Kathleen Kim (born 1979 or 1980) is an American actress and puppeteer, best known for her puppeteering work on Sesame Street.
Career Kim began studying puppetry while working in reality television as a story producer.
In 2014, she took a Sesame Puppetry Workshop, and was later brought on to Sesame Street as a puppetry assistant. She performed in Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas in 2016. In 2017, she and three other performers joined Sesame Street’s first Mentorship Program. Kim took on a consulting producer for the 2021 special "See Us Coming Together,” in which she also performed Ji-Young in her debut as the series' first Asian-American muppet. In addition to Ji-Young, Kim also puppets Elena, the mother of Julia, the series's first autistic character.
Kim also performed in the 2020 comedy series Awkwafina is Nora from Queens as the walk-around character Toe-Knee. Although producers originally planned to dub the character in post-production, they later opted to keep Kim's original vocal performance.
Filmography +YearShowRoleNotesRef2016Once Upon a Sesame Street ChristmasChristmas special2019Helpsters 2020Awkwafina is Nora from QueensToe-Knee2021–presentSesame StreetJi-Young, Elena
Early and personal life Kim was born in Queens, New York to Korean immigrant parents. She grew up in Manhattan and Long Island, learning English in part by watching Sesame Street. She studied TV/Radio and Children’s Studies at Brooklyn College.
She lives with her husband and daughter in Queens. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 and underwent a mastectomy.
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