Background
Ozker was born in Ankara, Turkey and grew up in Farmington Hills, Michigan, United States of America.
Ozker was born in Ankara, Turkey and grew up in Farmington Hills, Michigan, United States of America.
University of Michigan.
She was one of the original performers during the first season of Jim Henson"s popular television series, The Muppet Show. She received a bachelor"s degree in drama from the University of Michigan in 1970. Right after graduating, she toured with the National Shakespeare Company, appearing in Hamlet (Ophelia) and The Merchant of Venice, (Jessica).
She moved to New York, United States of America shortly after to perform in numerous off-Broadway productions such as The Master Builder in which she portrayed Kaia Fosli.
Reviews described her as "an Office-Broadway favorite" and as "a fire-cracker burning at both ends". In 1976 Ozker went to England and joined the cast of The Muppet Show.
As the only full-time female Muppeteer on the show at the time, she performed most of the female characters. These included:
Wanda - one half of the singing duo Wayne and Wanda.
Their "wholesome, uplifting and decent" acts, as described by Sam the Eagle, were always cut short in disastrous circumstances.
Hilda - mostly restricted to backstage appearances, Hilda was the wardrobe lady for the show with a Slavic accent. Janice - Ozker"s most famous character, Janice is the guitarist for Doctor Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, as taken over from Fran Brill. Of her three main characters, only Janice survived after Ozker left the show at the end of the first season.
Janice was subsequently performed by Richard Hunt, Matt Vogel, Brian Henson, Tyler Bunch, and most recently, David Rudman.
After performing in Henson productions The Muppet Movieand Emmet Otter"s Jug-Band Christmas, Ozker retired from the Muppet scene and returned to the United States to focus on her family. Her last puppeteering performance was in the 1988 production of The Warrior Antat the BrooklynNext Wave Festival.In 1989 Ozker founded and became chairwoman of the Puppeteers Caucus, a working group within the Screen Actors Guild.Ozker was presented the Joseph C. Riley award by the guild in 1991 in recognition of her services to the industry.
Ozker died on 25 February 1993, aged 44.