Biography

Film, theatre and TV puppeteer, Brian began his career in 1989 after growing up in and around theatre.  After working as an actor, stand-up comedian and stage manager, he joined ITV’s Spitting Image as an assistant puppeteer.  From there he was fortunate to train ‘on the job’  and work with some of the UK’s best puppeteers.

He joined the world famous Jim Henson company in 1999 and was a principal performer on all of their UK TV productions until they closed their English production arm.

In 2012 he performed at the opening ceremony for the London Olympic Games and the following year he joined Oscar winner Neal Scanlan’s Creature Effects Dept as Puppeteer Consultant on Star Wars The Force Awakens. A relationship that has continued during the Skywalker Saga and spin-off movies.

Throughout his career in television and film Brian has also been active in the theatre, writing and directing numerous pantomimes and children’s shows, as well as performing, teaching and consulting.

Brian is fully versed in numerous puppetry disciplines including TV hand ‘Muppet’ style, animatronic system, bunraku and suit performance and with the arrival of computer animation and CGI, using digital motion-capture systems, Brian has worked to develop new types of virtual puppetry and keep performers at the heart of performing.

More recently Brian has been working as a reference performer, working closely with the VFX Dept to provide character performances and dialogue for characters in such productions as the 2020 feature Dolittle.

Since 1992 his combination of forward thinking, a keen interest in the industry, good humour and enthusiasm has helped Brian stay one of the UK’s busiest puppeteers.

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