Jennifer Barnhart

Jennifer Barnhart, born March 11, 1972, in Hamden, Connecticut, is an American actress and puppeteer whose work spans Broadway, television, and regional theatre. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Connecticut, with a concentration in puppetry.

Barnhart's puppetry career began in 1996 on Once Upon a Tree, where she performed the characters Mara the Beaver and Mrs. Peeper the Owl. She went on to become a Sesame Street Muppet performer, assuming the role of Mama Bear in 2001 and Gladys the Cow in 2002. Beginning with season 46 of the series, she took over the role of Zoe following Fran Brill's retirement in 2014. Her children's television work also includes starring as Cleo on the PBS literacy series Between the Lions, performing the puppetry for Kanga and Owl on Disney Channel's The Book of Pooh, and playing Mrs. Johnson and various incidental characters on the Nickelodeon series Oobi. She additionally worked as a puppeteer on Johnny and the Sprites, a Disney Channel children's series created by her Avenue Q co-star John Tartaglia.

In 2003, Barnhart made her Broadway debut as a featured performer in the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q, a production in which she had also appeared Off-Broadway. Her regional theatre credits include the angel in Angels in America at Gallery Players, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Cassie in Rumors at Connecticut Repertory Theatre. In 2011, she portrayed police officer Randy Osteen in Tracy Letts's Superior Donuts at the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia.

Barnhart's television acting credits include two appearances on Law & Order: SVU — a 2006 episode titled "Web," in which she appeared on screen as a puppeteer, and a 2010 episode titled "Behave," in which she portrayed Chicago Police Department detective Lorna Diamond. Additional television credits include Helpsters, Julie's Greenroom, The Chica Show, Smart Cookies, Bear in the Big Blue House, Lomax the Hound of Music, and Exposing the Order of the Serpentine.