Muppet Wiki

Kermiteye.png Welcome to Muppet Wiki!


Please visit Special:Community to learn how you can collaborate with the editing community.

READ MORE

Muppet Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Samson
PERFORMER Peter Röders 1977-1983
  Herbert Langemann 1986-1988
  Matthias Bullach 1989-1991
  Klaus Esch 1992-present
DEBUT 1978
DESIGN Kermit Love
Sesamstrasse054-(Uli-von-Bödefeld,-Tiffy-and-Samson-in-their-workshop)

Samson with Uli von Bödefeld and Tiffy

SSNewYear08

Samson in Sesame Street Stays Up Late!

Samson is a character from Sesamstrasse, the German co-production of Sesame Street.

Together with bird Tiffy, he was one of the first two local Muppets on Sesamstrasse, and remained a regular character until 2010. Episodes featuring the character as a regular re-aired until 2014. Samson had his latest appearances in a series of live performances with Ernie, Bert and the NDR radio philharmonic orchestra in the winter of 2013,[1] and appears in promotional material for the 40th anniversary of the show. Although he is no longer a regular character, he continues to make the occasional guest appearance in new scenes.

Characterization[]

Samson is a sweet, big shaggy brown bear. He has a black spot on his nose and two large sneakers on his feet. He is big and tough, and a little clumsy.

Samson lives in a cave, and he loves lying in his hammock, cuddling with his "Schnuffeltuch" (his security blanket), and dancing. His best friend is Tiffy. Samson is best known for saying "uuiuuiuui!" ('oy oy oy!') when he's confused, and for his trademark song "Ich bin Samson, und ich schaff's!" (I am Samson, and I can do anything).

Samson represents the psychological age of a five year old.

History[]

Samson has been the main full body character on Sesamstrasse since the German street sequences started in 1978. Like the early Muppets on the show, he was designed and built by Kermit Love. In the documentary Samson und das Krümelmonster, Kermit Love explains how Samson was originally created as a teddy bear, since teddy bears were very popular in Germany. The teddy bear 'grew and grew, until he became Samson'. According to Kermit Love, children are not afraid to be trampled by the giant bear: he is their friend, because he is a puppet. Since Samson is a walkaround character, most of his body language comes from his feet and the way he walks, which is why his shoes are so large.

Notes[]

  • Samson has a cousin named Simson who looks exactly like him, except that Simson wears different colored sneakers and a straw hat/bow tie ensemble, which gets later replaced by a large baseball cap. Simson was made from the old Samson costume #2, and appeared numerous times during the 1990s.
Samson-1978-2000

See also[]

Sources[]

Advertisement