Frank Oz

Speaker 20:00

Hallo, I'm Kirstie Young, and this is a download from the Desert Island Disc's archive. This edition may be slightly different from what was actually broadcast, but it is the only version we have. It comes from the British Library's radio collection.

Speaker 20:14

The recording didn't contain the guests' eight music choices, so we've rebuilt the original show by using discs from the B B C Gramophone library. For Wrights' reasons we've had to shorten the music.

Speaker 20:25

Full details can be found on the Castaways page on the Desert Island Disc's website.

Speaker 20:30

The programme was originally broadcast in nineteen eighty one.

Speaker 20:34

And the presenter was Roy Plumley.

Presenter0:52

On our Desert Island this week is the man who is the voice of Miss Piggy and some other Muppet mates. It's Frank Oz. Frank, is music a major interest of yours?

Presenter1:03

Not a major one, no. I'm not one who comes home and and sits down and listens to music. I tend to listen to music a great deal in the car driving to and from work. Have you any skill at music? Do you play an instrument? Yeah, I studied cello for about a year when I was in my teens and I I've taken about a year and a half uh on piano and music theory. Have you ever played in public anywhere? No, no, no, there's no real reason for me to play in public anywhere.

Presenter1:29

Right, now you have just this miserable allowance of eight discs. What's the first one you've chosen? The first one is called Young Man Mose and it's the title of the album. It's by Moes Ellison, who's a particular favorite of mine. The reason I chose him is really it's the first record of his that I received and it really I think was my brother's in the beginning. But I chose it because the jacket cover has Moes Allison sitting there. It's a white cover. He's sitting on a chair. And I remember it placed in the record rack in our home. And our home has a nice redwood floor. And I can see this when I think of Young Man Moe's. Redwood floor with a big picture window and the trees outside and our stereo. So it's a great sense of home and feeling of home when I sense Moes Allison. And the the cut that I like very much in Young Man Mose is which one did I pick? Don't Get Around Much. Don't Get Around Much Anymore, yes. And that's a Duke Ellington number, isn't it? Yes, it is, yeah. Lovely lyrics.

Frank Oz2:25

Don't get a run. Get her.

Speaker 32:31

Thought I'd visit the club.

Speaker 32:35

I got as far as the door.

Speaker 32:39

They'd have asked me about you.

Speaker 32:43

I don't get around much anymore.

Speaker 32:48

Well, darling.

Speaker 32:50

I guess.

Speaker 32:53

My mind's more at ease.

Speaker 32:56

But nevertheless.

Speaker 33:01

A wild stir of memories I've been invited on day.

Speaker 33:07

I could have gone but one far

Speaker 33:11

Awfully different without you.

Frank Oz3:13

Yeah.

Speaker 33:15

I don't get around much anymore.

Presenter3:22

Young Mose Allison don't get around much any more.

Presenter3:26

Now Oz, to say the least, is an unusual name. Yes, it's not my real name. My my legal name is Ozna Witz, which it still is. And I just use Oz because some time ago, um seventeen years ago, when I was in New York and I was performing on a show, the fellow whose show it was couldn't pronounce my name and I just felt, well, why not use Oz and keep Ozna Witz, which I'd never change. Where were you born? I was born here in Hereford, England.

Presenter3:54

Where do your parents come from? My mother is Flemish. She was born in Bruges. Uh and my father is Dutch. He was born in Amsterdam. And uh they really lived in Antwerp, Belgium, before moving to the United States.

Presenter4:07

How long did you live in Hereford?

Presenter4:09

I didn't live in Hereford for very long. We my parents came here during the war and I was a war baby and after the war I was born in 1944, my parents and I and my brother moved back to Antwerp. Can you still speak Flemish? I thought you were going to say can you still speak English? No, I can't. I can understand Flemish a bit. But no, I I used to speak French and Dutch and Flemish and it's all gone now. What did your father do?

Presenter4:38

He still is. He's a window trimmer in the United States, in uh California. He decorates windows, women's apparel windows. He also was a puppeteer. Yes, yes. In uh in Belgium he was a puppeteer and uh when he met uh my mother he uh asked her to make some costumes and they worked together and then they um fell in love.

Frank Oz4:46

Yeah.

Frank Oz4:47

Yes

Presenter5:02

Did he have a portable theater or did they play in Vaudeville? No, no, it was something he was doing as a hobby. He had his profession and it was just something he enjoyed doing. And he would carve the heads and it was in a small room that he had in Antwerp and he'd just do it for friends. And he kept going with that in California in addition to that way? Yes, but much more in a social sense. He d he had to raise a family and he really didn't do shows as such. He did a a minimum of shows but was involved in the organization The Puppeteers of America there. Did you work with him as a child?

Speaker 35:25

In a way.

Presenter5:41

No. The only time I did work with him was uh I did a show in a children's park when I was about fourteen and uh it was a uh a show that he and my mother and I worked on and it was significant in that we had screaming fights. Well, of course, this is no, because I was a young kid trying to get away from my parents and at the same time uh working with my parents. As any rebellious young kid knows, it's time to get away from home and I chose that time to work with him. But it it was fine. You know, it worked out fine.

Frank Oz5:58

This is the chart just

Speaker 36:00

From no big

Presenter6:13

Your second record, what's that be?

Presenter6:16

Second record, again, it's a strong association. It's um Bing Crosby's Christmas Carols, actually. It's an old record. And the cut on it is God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. And I picked that because whenever we had Christmas, my parents, we have a very family-minded family. We're very close. My parents said, well, let's not open the presents yet. Let's sing some Christmas carols. And they put on Bing Crosby, God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. And I was going crazy because I wanted to get at those presents. And I would sit and listen to God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman over and over. And I just wanted those gifts. So that's why I chose that. It's a strong, strong family association again.

Presenter6:57

God rest you merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.

Presenter7:05

Remember Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas Day.

Presenter7:13

To save us all from Satan's power.

Frank Oz7:13

Save us all.

Presenter7:17

When we were gone astray

Frank Oz7:22

Uh

Presenter7:22

I need

Frank Oz7:23

Yeah. Comfort and joy, comfort and joy, oh tidings of comfort and joy.

Presenter7:36

Bing Crosby. So, obviously you were educated in California. Where were you at high school?

Presenter7:42

A high school called Oakland Technical High School. Technical has nothing to do with what the school's about, it's just a name. Had you ambitions at that time to be a professional puppeteer? No, as a matter of fact, I I I did my first show when I was about eleven years old. I did a show in front of a supermarket for thirty-five dollars. And I did shows up until I was eighteen years old for some extra money where I could buy things. And I w was known very locally around the San Francisco Bay Area and did birthday parties and fairs and bazaars and churches and parking lots and everything, which was a very good experience, excellent experience for a performer. But in truth I I stopped when I was eighteen thinking this is silly, I'll never make money at this. What were you good at at at high school? English. English I enjoyed, sports I enjoyed. I wanted to be a journalist. You were a good basketball player. You you're a tall lad. I don't know if I was good or not. I certainly enjoyed it. And do.

Frank Oz8:14

Yeah.

Frank Oz8:25

What we have good

Frank Oz8:33

European

Frank Oz8:37

And do.

Presenter8:39

When you left high school, you you came to London for a while? Yes, yes. I took two months to uh go around Europe visiting youth hostels and going to London. Uh I was here for about ten days. Did you visit any puppeteers? No, I don't think I did. I think at that time I was just a kid who was trying to experience as much as I could and it uh didn't really involve puppets. Was it before you came here or when you returned to California that you met a man named Jim Hansen? I was in California.

Presenter9:11

I was seventeen, this is prior to finishing high school, and I met Jim at a uh a conference the Puppeteers of America are having, that's a group in the United States that meets uh once a year. Mm-hmm. And he asked me to uh well, he didn't ask me at that time to come work with him because I hadn't finished high school. But after I returned from my uh European jaunt, and after a month of uh college, then he asked me to come out and I out where? What did you do? He was just moving to New York from Washington DC. He was uh doing commercials and guest appearances on various variety shows. On television. Yes, on television. He'd had a television show.

Frank Oz9:38

Out where? What are you doing?

Frank Oz9:48

On television.

Presenter9:52

in Washington DC for eight years and he decided to move to New York and he needed a performer. Mhm. And uh so he asked me. And it was he, myself, Don Selene and Jerry Jewell, the four of us, who really began things in New York. But on that first time of asking you said no.

Presenter10:10

Well, I was 17. I had not finished high school and the fellow I work with, Jerry Jewell, decided he would go, but I was too young. But you were buzzing with the idea, or did you still want to go into journalism? Well, I wanted to go into journalism. I had never had any idea that I'd go into puppetry, I mean, or and performing, because I was much more interested in writing than in journalism. Right, well, at that moment of divided interest, let's break for your third record. What's that to be? Again, this is a record with a strong association. It's Wonderful Town. It's Leonard Bernstein, Betty Command, and Adolph Green. And there's a cut in it called What a Waste. And I know this album. For some reason, when I was a child, I played this album over and over again, again, in my home. And I can sing it. And if I was in that desert island, I think I could just sing to my heart's content. And this particular cut, for some reason, I would play over and over again. There's no explanation why. It's one of those obsessive qualities that children sometimes have.

Speaker 310:36

People.

Frank Oz11:14

Born in Duluth, natural writer, published at seven, genius type. Wrote the school play, wrote the school paper, summa cum laude, all of that ripe. Came to New York, got on the staff here, this was my chance to be heard. And since then, I haven't written a word. What a waste, what a waste, what a waste of money and time!

Presenter11:34

Ready?

Presenter11:36

What a waste, what a waste of money and time!

Presenter11:40

What a Waste from Wonderful Town, sung by George Gaines, Warren Galjour and Albert Lindville. And well it was rather rather like you. You went off to New York, didn't you? You never did become a journalist. Off you went to join Jim Henson. Yeah, he asked me for six months just to give it a try and I've been with him ever since. And he was working, he was breaking into New York as a puppeteer. He already had a frog puppet called Kermit, I believe, at that time. Right.

Frank Oz12:06

I don't believe at that time.

Presenter12:08

Tell me about the shows you did together.

Presenter12:11

We did a lot of variety shows, uh all the variety shows on television, the Perry Comos, the the Jack Parrs, the um oh gosh, you name them, we we we we did'em then. And we did many, many commercials. Now, Muppets, I I I believe that's a word that that Jim Hansen devised, isn't it? Yes, yes.

Frank Oz12:26

Yeah.

Presenter12:28

What does it mean? I have no idea.

Presenter12:31

There are stories that it means half puppet and half Marionette, but I really don't know. I I it's a very dull answer, but I don't know. Right. How big an organization did he have? Just the three of you? It was just the four of us. His wife, uh Jane, performed in the beginning, but uh she was raising a family and it really was Jim, myself as a performer, Jerry Jules, the writer, and Don Celine, who's passed away. He's the one who built the puppets. And then we added on from then.

Frank Oz12:43

This is one of the things.

Presenter12:56

Oh, there came a time in the late sixties when you were approached about a series called Sesame Street. You were setting that up.

Frank Oz13:02

Yours.

Presenter13:04

Well, I think it was John Stone, the children's television workshop people I wasn't at the early meetings, Jim was, and they included Jim in some of those meetings and it turned out that they'd liked something like the Muppets as part of Sesame Street, so we were hired really as that portion of it. This was really a a teaching show for for preschoolers. Teaching young children to read and write. Well, no, actually it it was originally attended as an experimental show. And what has happened is it became so successful and is so successful that people see it more as something that is meant for teaching re to read and write. Thirteen years ago, in actual fact, the experiment was can we teach children to count one to ten and do the alphabet. That's all the show was intended for. And ever since then it's grown.

Speaker 313:47

Yeah.

Presenter13:50

You incorporated some of the old characters that were in your repertoire and of course invented new ones. For Sesame Street the new ones were invented really. Kermit was the original Muppet I guess and he was on Sesame Street as he has been on the Muppet Show. Kermit's been everywhere hasn't been in the public. Yes, yes, and that's Jim. But we really created new puppets for Sesame Street.

Frank Oz14:06

Kirbits

Presenter14:13

You're still doing Sesame Street after, as you said, thirteen years. Yes, I'm doing it every year, about two or three weeks a year. Where is it made?

Frank Oz14:15

Yeah.

Presenter14:19

In New York City.

Presenter14:22

Let's have your fourth record. What shall we have now? Okay, we'll have The Five Pennies, Danny K. Louis Armstrong. It's a movie I saw when I was again a youngster with my parents. I was in the back seat watching at a drive-in. And I bought this from my father when we bought our Columbia record player at that time. This was 25 years ago. And since my mother bought the stereo from my father, I bought this record and I brought the stereo down to my room and I heard Louis Armstrong on the left.

Presenter14:53

And praise the Lord, Danny Kaye on the right. And I couldn't believe it. And I was this kid and I was in the room and all of a sudden there's Louis Armstrong and on the right Danny Kaye kicks in. I heard that again. I was a very strange, obsessive, compulsive child,'cause I heard that record over and over. It was the first time of her stereotypes.

Frank Oz15:10

Won't you come home, Phil Perry? Won't you come home, yes? Baba go to the left, yes.

Frank Oz15:19

I do the broken

Frank Oz15:22

Bear the rest!

Frank Oz15:24

You have nothing, not even a sample.

Frank Oz15:27

Look at your baby, you remember that's with her!

Frank Oz15:31

If it's cold, it's a Norwegian.

Frank Oz15:33

Nothing but a bind to go

Frank Oz15:37

Nah, ain't it the same?

Frank Oz15:39

I know I'm the blame

Frank Oz15:41

You barely count your please come on.

Presenter15:46

Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong, and I hope you were listening on stereo.

Presenter15:51

So Sesame Street, a great success. Things were going very well. Then there was a proposition from Britain.

Presenter15:58

Yes, we were doing a show called Saturday Night Live, which is a very successful show in the United States, a television show, a weekly show. And after about a year or so of that, Lord Grade asked us to do twenty-four half-hour shows in Britain, which after all this time we know is the Muppet Show. Was this to be a children's show? No, no. We we tried for quite a while to sell a family adult show in the United States, but no success. The uh three networks uh thought puppets were just for children. And uh Lord Grade asked us to come over and we had the opportunity to do what we wanted, which was a family adult show that we knew was not just for children. Did you make a pilot?

Presenter16:40

We made two pilots, but we were assured that we'd do the rest also. How many of you came over? How many of you were to be involved? In the beginning, I think it was just less than a dozen, because the people that came over were really the writers and the performers and Dave Lazer, our executive producer. Were there any particular difficulties about working in Britain? You were coming right away from base. Only I think that it was difficult for us after a while. In the beginning it was very exciting coming to London. It was wonderful. We love London. But then after a while your family's back home and I mean after a while, after a year or so, then a year and a half or two years you start missing your family and you're committed to do your job in London and you miss simple pleasures that you know which you can't get in London. And I'm sure vice versa is true for people who are Britishers who are in the United States. Surely.

Presenter17:36

Did you have any firm ideas immediately?

Presenter17:39

As to who the principal characters were to be. I mean Kermit had to appear again because he appeared in everything. Kermit, yes. We had a bear called Fozzie Bear who was created for the show and he was to be second banana for Kermit. We had some other characters that we had already created for the series which we tried to sell. Piggy was a character that was not created. It just came up during the rehearsals. She just appeared, isn't it? She just appeared. Lord knows how, but she just appeared. Where are your puppets made? Well, we have the best people in the world making our puppets in New York and London. We have our own staff in in New York really.

Frank Oz18:06

Yeah, does it mean that?

Frank Oz18:07

Where are you going?

Presenter18:21

Did you try to make the show British in any particular way forward forward grade? Or did we made a point of not making it British? We we didn't want to be Americans coming in and trying to be British. That's pretty silly. We just we didn't even think about nationality. We just wanted to do a show that we thought was funny. You made twenty-four half-hour editions straight off.

Frank Oz18:24

No outgrade or did no we made a point a national

Presenter18:40

Was viewers' reaction immediate or did it need a fairly long build-up? Well in London it was fabulous. The first year was just astounding. It got to be a great success. In the United States the first year wasn't as successful but in the United States it's built up and from year two it grew and grew and grew and it was a great success and in all the world we've been very fortunate. Is it accepted in the United States as not a children's show? Yes. That's the best thing of all, that it's not a children's show. That it's a family adult show. And it's given the the right screening time. Yes, it's given usually around 7.30 at night or 6.30 or 7.30 depending on what part of the country.

Frank Oz19:08

Yeah.

Presenter19:24

We got a record number five. Okay, record number five is Mose Allison sings.

Presenter19:30

And I could play Mose Allison all day. The cut is called Lost Mind. I just love the lyrics. And again, I know all these songs on this album, so if I was on a desert island I could sing all these songs and I'd be very happy. And for those listeners who don't know Mose Allison, he plays the piano as well as singing. Yes.

Speaker 319:47

If you would be so kind to help me find my mind.

Presenter19:47

You

Presenter19:50

Hello.

Speaker 319:53

I want to thank you in advance.

Speaker 319:58

Know this before you start My soul's been torn apart I lost my mind in a wild romance

Speaker 320:11

My future is my past, This memory will last.

Speaker 320:17

I'll live to love the days gone by

Speaker 320:22

Each day that come and go Is like the one before My mind's lost till the day I died

Presenter20:34

Those Alison

Presenter20:35

Lost mine.

Presenter20:37

How many Muppet programs have you made now? We've made 120 shows in four and a half, five years. So Muppets are made in Britain and Sesame Street in the States. Yes, and uh Sesame Street is just two weeks of work or three weeks of my work. We have other performers working on Sesame Street. But now we're uh involved in uh some movie making, uh the Great Muppet Caper which has been out here. Yes. And uh we did Muppet Movie before that.

Frank Oz21:02

Yeah.

Frank Oz21:04

That

Presenter21:05

So you're not making the half-arm up it programs anymore? No, we stopped that last August because uh we just felt that five years was a very good amount to have and we uh we wanted to stop and we were on top.

Frank Oz21:07

They know

Presenter21:19

And the Muppet television shows are syndicated in various countries. Have you any idea how many? Yes. I I saw the list once, as a matter of fact. It truly is a around a hundred countries. Any idea how many viewers that adds up?

Frank Oz21:28

It means

Presenter21:31

Uh m more than a couple of hundred, I'm sure.

Presenter21:35

I don't know. There are our publicity releases say over 240 million, but I'm sure it's only about 239 million. Or perhaps under half. I don't know. And spin-offs are cost-alool.

Frank Oz21:45

It's been

Presenter21:47

There are dolls and things out, yes, that that are sold around the world.

Presenter21:51

How many voices do you do? Uh uh I know you do Miss Piggy. I do Piggy, I do Animal, I do Sam, the Eagle, I do Fozzie Bear, and that's that's just on the Muppet Show. I do other voices also.

Presenter22:03

I don't want to know any detail because it would spoil it, but you use all sorts of animation methods.

Presenter22:09

On the Muppet Show and the Muppet movies, yes. Basically they're characters, uh like uh Animal or Floyd or anybody, they're all they're all hand puppets with uh arm wires. Those particular characters, or the rats we do, or the chickens, they're all basically hand puppets. And rods and um some rods, yeah. It uh it depends on each puppet. And electronics? Not really. And some of the uh more sophisticated things we're doing now, we're doing a movie right now called Dark Crystal, which will be out in uh a year's time or less. There's a lot of uh sophisticated work there, but not on the Muppet Show, really.

Frank Oz22:29

And electronic?

Presenter22:44

And you have the fun of incorporating live stars. That's the best part, you see. If you do a weekly show, maybe as you know here, if you just did this show on and on and on, you get very bored. But every week you have a new guest star which you can shape the show around and it's very exciting'cause you're you're looking forward to meeting an Elton John. You're looking forward to meeting a Nereyev or or someone. It's very exciting every week. It's great fun for them too because it's also a wonderful showcase. I mean there are no humans on that show except

Frank Oz22:47

Who's that?

Frank Oz22:48

Do you hear?

Presenter23:12

The star. It's a great showcase for them and they enjoy it very much. And you have the the challenge of, for example, having a live star dance with a puppet. Well we have also some uh large seven foot, ten foot creatures, even fifteen foot creatures, which are essentially puppets. So when we have a dancer on the program, or anybody who wants to dance, uh we use those creatures very effectively. So you can get inside of Miss Piggy's skin if you want to. No, not Miss Piggy. That's a different situation. Uh she she's a character who's not a costume. No. Was the whole thing carefully scripted or was there a certain amount of ad-living on the floor? It was carefully scripted. We had uh excellent writers, about three of them usually, Jerry Jewell, the head writer, and we would take the scripts and we'd work on them for weeks and edit them down until the very last moment we'd be s editing. And then we'd ad-lib maybe five, ten percent at the very most. They were tightly scripted.

Frank Oz24:05

There

Presenter24:06

Was it direct sound or did you dab afterwards? For musical numbers we would sing the numbers beforehand and then we would play it down to the studio floor. But all the uh dialogue was live at the time. When Jim is working Kermit or I'm working Piggy or whoever else is working puppets were we were actually talking at the same time.

Presenter24:26

Record number six. Record number six is Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town. When I was in Los Angeles where I met my wife doing the Muppet movie, I drove around in my car and this is one of the songs I listened to. And it reminds me of just the sunshine and the open feeling driving around Los Angeles. And it's also a beautiful song, a beautiful lament. It's called Racing in the Street.

Frank Oz24:53

Oh tonight, tonight. The strip's just right, I wanna pull my lighter the sea.

Frank Oz25:04

We're calling out around the world.

Frank Oz25:08

We're going racing in the street

Presenter25:18

Bruce Springsteen racing in the street.

Presenter25:21

Going back to your boyhood, Frank, not all that long ago. Were you an outdoor boy? Were you a Boy Scout or anything of that sort? I was a Boy Scout. You were, yes, I was a splendid Boy Scout and I quit Boy Scouts very early.

Speaker 325:24

Yeah.

Frank Oz25:24

Yeah.

Speaker 325:25

Oh.

Frank Oz25:25

Will you

Speaker 325:25

What

Frank Oz25:25

Yeah.

Speaker 325:25

Outdoor boy.

Frank Oz25:26

Uh

Frank Oz25:29

I was a

Frank Oz25:30

Yes it is.

Presenter25:34

Did you do any camping out? Yes, I did some camping out. Knots and lighting a fire with one match or. Yes, well actually I was a Boy Scout and I got all my badges. Did you? Yes, about three badges. Sissy badges. More than that, for heaven. Yes, well those are the sissy badges. Those are the badges you do in the safety of your own home. When you go out camping it's a different story. I went out camping and it was very cold in my sleeping bag and my father was along so I stopped in the station wagon instead. I was not a good guy. He was one of the leaders that came along on the camping trip. And I like camping. I like camping now. I think I would. No, I wouldn't. That's a lie. I had a terrible time camping. I may like it. I may like it now, but I haven't tried it for 30 years since I got cold in that sleeping bag. Now you have to eat. Ever done any fishing?

Speaker 325:39

Yeah.

Frank Oz25:49

More than that for him.

Frank Oz26:00

And my

Frank Oz26:03

What was your favorite?

Frank Oz26:07

From the capital.

Speaker 326:16

Yeah.

Frank Oz26:16

Uh

Presenter26:24

Yeah, I did fishing. Um I'm gonna sound like a real sissy here, but I don't like taking those hooks out of the fish's mouth. I really don't. I'd much rather order out.

Speaker 326:30

Yeah.

Presenter26:37

I could. As a matter of fact, we used to grow potatoes in Montana when we when we immigrated to the United States, so uh at least I have that in the background. Well, that's something. I don't know what you grow on the sand in Dresden Island, though. Would you try to escape?

Presenter26:50

It would depend how desperate I was, I suppose. Yes, I think I could. Yeah, I sail.

Presenter26:55

You do? Oh, you know a bit about navigation. Yeah, no, not navigation, but I see I can't find the dock again, but I can get out.

Frank Oz26:57

Yeah.

Presenter27:02

I think you stand a reasonable chance. And we got to record number seven.

Presenter27:07

Which is Adam and the Ants. And the reason I'm choosing Adam and the Ants is because I brought it home one day for my wife to hear on a cassette. And we're listening to this song and we're having the greatest time. It has such energy. It's very simplistic, but it has such energy. And I just remember my wife's attitude listening to it. She has such a great love of life and great vivaciousness. And it reminds me of that quality in her. The cut we were listening to is ant music.

Frank Oz27:39

Come in here!

Speaker 327:41

Uh

Frank Oz27:42

Uh

Speaker 327:42

Uh

Frank Oz27:42

Uh

Speaker 327:45

So side

Speaker 327:47

Yeah.

Speaker 327:51

Myself

Presenter28:07

Ant Music by Adam and the Ants. Now the two Muppets which have caught on best of course in in this country are Kermit and Miss Piggy. Yes, Kermit is Jim Hansen.

Presenter28:17

Oh, there's somebody at the door now.

Frank Oz28:19

Excuse me, is this the place? Oh hello!

Frank Oz28:23

Peggy

Presenter28:23

Uh

Frank Oz28:23

Yes.

Presenter28:23

Yes, Ray Plumley.

Presenter28:25

Hi. I had no idea you were coming to see me. No, well, this is a really interesting studio. Isn't this a surprise? I've never seen this before.

Frank Oz28:29

Brendan.

Presenter28:33

Well, it's it's just a studio.

Frank Oz28:35

Yes, well I am.

Presenter28:38

So tacky. Well, it is a bit tacky. Yes, we'd have uh done it up if we had known you were coming.

Frank Oz28:43

I'm in trouble

Speaker 328:43

Oh.

Frank Oz28:43

Uh

Speaker 328:43

Bring it.

Frank Oz28:43

Yes, my father.

Presenter28:48

Yes, well, I just dropped in. I just wanted to say hello. You really do. Look at Dish. I mean, that that's a lovely gown you're wearing. Yes. Did Frank buy it for you?

Presenter28:57

Frank, uh Mr. Oz, the that gentleman here. You you've met him, surely? No, I I don't know the gentleman.

Frank Oz29:00

We've met him, surely.

Presenter29:03

Oh, well, mister Oz, Miss Piggy. Uh, how do you keep your marvellous figure? I mean, let's face it, most little piggies get plump.

Presenter29:13

Well, being the superstar which Moi am

Presenter29:16

One needs to have a diet regimen.

Presenter29:21

Yes.

Frank Oz29:21

Ten

Speaker 329:21

Um

Presenter29:25

Well

Presenter29:25

After I wake up in the morning I have an insy wincey teensy piece of toast.

Presenter29:33

And then I think of all the things I could have eaten for breakfast.

Presenter29:37

Which of course means that I have saved that many calories and then I eat them later on in the day four times.

Frank Oz29:41

And then I

Presenter29:45

Do you ever reveal your age?

Frank Oz29:46

They're not

Presenter29:48

Just in the morning.

Presenter29:49

I was making a kind of tentative overture to ask you how old you were.

Speaker 329:55

Uh, I wouldn't if I were you.

Presenter29:57

All right, well, I I don't want to embarrass anybody. About your private life, there have been some rumours about you and Kermit.

Presenter30:06

The rumours are all true?

Presenter30:07

Coubert is desperately in love with Mois. And you, Vu and Kermit? He is my magnificent obsession.

Presenter30:15

I am told you live in considerable luxury in this country. At the studio you have a gold plated shower.

Presenter30:22

Did Kermit give you that?

Presenter30:24

Well, I I I must be honest with you, I think this is

Presenter30:27

What the press agent probably told you.

Presenter30:30

Um I must tell you the truth, that I do not have those things. Kermie does not pay for those things. It seems as though uh Kermie

Presenter30:39

was a bit mad at me, and now my dressing room is next to the rats and the dancing chickens. I'm so sorry. Yes. Well, we had a little lover's tiff, but I'd rather not talk about it.

Presenter30:49

I hope it's over very, very quickly.

Frank Oz30:50

Great.

Presenter30:53

See that he does. How do you like working in London?

Presenter30:57

I'd go anywhere with my Kermi.

Presenter30:59

Well I love London and Trummy does too. And of course we're we're we're great pig lovers. We we always have been. I mean

Frank Oz31:01

And of course

Presenter31:05

Well, I I'm sorry about that. I am spoken for.

Presenter31:09

Yes, don't accept that as a proposal. I don't want any trouble.

Frank Oz31:12

Oh, excuse me.

Presenter31:14

Don't want any trouble.

Frank Oz31:15

Usually happens.

Presenter31:17

Well, would you forgive us because um Frank, Oz and I are doing this program. I'm happy to leave. It's been a very boring program so far. So I. Oh, charming. I have to go watch a tree grow, which is much more interesting. Would somebody open the- Nothing personal, Ray. Somebody open the door for Miss Piggy. Goodbye, Miss Piggy.

Speaker 331:28

Thank you.

Frank Oz31:30

Uh

Frank Oz31:31

Uh

Speaker 331:31

Would somebody

Frank Oz31:32

Nothing personal has

Presenter31:38

Well, uh Frank, you've got one more programmed. One more she's got me confused. You've got one more disc to choose. Yes, this is another disc, the last disc here today by Mose Ellison. Mose Ellison, uh, obviously is somebody I'm crazy about. This particular cut is called Parchman Farm. It's one of those of uh a couple of dozen that I could easily choose. I just think he's terrific.

Frank Oz31:43

You buy one.

Presenter32:42

Parchment Farm by Mose Allison. If you could take only one disc out of the eight that you've played as Frank, which would it be? Young Man Mose. And the particular cut we played was Don't Get Around Much Anymore. Mose Allison again. Yes. Has a great elegance and uh but very subdued energy about him that I I love.

Presenter33:02

And one luxury to take with you to the island, any one thing you would like to have which is of no practical use? Clean sheets. Clean sheets. Yes. Well, if one is sunburned.

Frank Oz33:12

Yeah, yeah.

Presenter33:14

Those clean sheets feel wonderful. Yes, yes. I take it somebody's already said, I mean, that there is a phonograph on the island to play these discs on. There is indeed. It's a solar part. It's very sophisticated. This sounds like a very good island. It's not bad, as islands go. And one book, apart from the Bible and Shakespeare, which are already waiting for you. Well, that's easy for me. It's The Complete Works of Emily Dickinson. The Complete Works of Emily Dickinson. Yeah. Right. And thank you, Frank Oz, for letting us hear your Desert Island discs. Thank you.

Presenter33:46

Goodbye, everyone.

Frank Oz33:51

Uh

Speaker 233:54

You've been listening to a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive. For more podcasts please visit bbc.co.uk slash radio four.