Rowlf the Dog

Rowlf the Dog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Known most notably as the resident pianist on the sketch comedy television series The Muppet Show, Rowlf is an anthropomorphic scruffy brown dog of indeterminate breed with a rounded black nose and long floppy ears. Laid-back and wisecracking, his humor is characterized as deadpan and as such, he is one of few Muppets who is rarely flustered by the show's prevalent mayhem. Henson's closest collaborators and family members have claimed Rowlf to be the Muppet character most similar to Henson's real-life personality. Rowlf was created in 1962 being introduced as the spokesman of Purina Dog Chow television commercials aired in Canada, in which he appeared with Baskerville the Hound. Rowlf was designed and performed by Henson, and was built by Don Sahlin; it was Sahlin's first Muppet construction. In 1966, Ideal Toys produced Rowlf and Kermit the Frog puppets. Rowlf subsequently appeared on The Jimmy Dean Show from 1963 to 1966, becoming the first Muppet to appear regularly on network television. In the 1970s and 1980s, Rowlf appeared as a regular character on The Muppet Show (1976–1982), as well as in The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). After a brief hiatus following Henson's death, Rowlf returned to the forefront in Muppet films and television series with Bill Barretta performing the character since Muppets Tonight (1996).