Noel MacNeal is an African American puppeteer, writer, and director of children's television, best known as the voice and puppeteer of Bear in Bear in the Big Blue House and Breakfast with Bear. He first came to public attention in the early 1980s. On November 6, 1999, he married author Susan Elia at Manhattan's Union Theological Seminary. Their son, Matthew, was born in 2005. Noel portrays the environmentally friendly character ZoZo a mascot for safer streets, green transportation and useful public spaces. This Jim Henson designed and created walk around puppet is used by Livable Streets Education to talk about these issues with young children and families. Among his characters are Bear, Mrs. Snuffleupagus and various Snuffleupagus relatives on Sesame Street. He has also been Magellan, a baby dragon, on the ACE Award winning series Eureeka's Castle on Nick Jr, Leon MacNeal in The Puzzle Place; Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and Madame Chairbird in the Sesame Street film Follow That Bird. 

September 15th, 1961 in New York City (Age 62)