The Muppets star Pepé turns 30: 'He's kind of like a male Miss Piggy'

Pepé the King Prawn began as a small role on Muppets Tonight, the variety series that debuted on March 8, 1996 and ran 22 episodes over two seasons. What started as a minor part on that short-lived show grew into one of the troupe’s core characters and one of the most notable additions to the Muppets since Jim Henson’s death in 1990.

Bill Barretta based Pepé on his wife’s aunt, Maria Teresa, whom he met in 1994 — a funny, teasing Spanish woman who spoke in blunt statements. A slip of the tongue turned a description of her into a “shellfish,” and the character evolved into a king prawn with attitude; Michael Frith designed the puppet, Eric Engelhardt built it, and Tom Newby developed its control mechanism.

Pepé found his footing after being paired with Rizzo in the 1999 film Muppets from Space, with Steve Whitmire’s Rizzo helping sharpen Pepé’s identity.

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