Jerry Nelson, the voice and operator of Sesame Street character Count von Count has sadly passed away aged 78.
Mr Nelson worked on numerous comedy puppet shows over a period of 40 years, including The Muppets and Fraggle Rock, but he’s best known for entertaining millions of children – and no doubt many adults – with the maths-obsessed Count.
He died on Thursday in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
He voiced and operated the Count from 1972 until 2004, after which he just provided the voice.
A tweet from the official Sesame StreetTwitter profile said: "We deeply mourn the loss of cast member and creator of dozens of Muppet charactrs, Jerry Nelson."
"Every description of his characters describes Jerry as well," Sesame Street executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente told news agency AP. "Silly, funny, vulnerable, passionate, and musical, for sure. That voice of his was superb."
His work also included operating Sesame Street’s Mr Snuffleupaguss, Gobo Fraggle on Fraggle Rock and being the right hand of Rowlf the Dog on The Muppets.
Mr Nelson was born in Oklahoma and grew up in the US capital, Washington DC.