Kevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer, director and producer whose characters included Elmo, Clifford, Benny Rabbit, and Hoots the Owl. Clash developed an interest in puppetry at an early age and, in his teen years, performed for local TV children's shows in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. He joined the cast of Captain Kangaroo in the early 1980s and began performing on Sesame Street in 1984.