Nikki Tilroe
Acting
Biography
Nikki Tilroe, renowned for portraying the Mime Lady on Today's Special, was a versatile utility player on the show. She performed various roles, from additional puppet characters to providing voices and embodying large costumes. Notably, she portrayed Wanda Willoby in "Babies" (1984) and "Letters" (1985) and voiced Hazel in "Butterflies" (1984). Tilroe brought life to the magic dragon in the story "Byron the Grump and the Magic Dragon." Her most notable role was inside the Blue Cow costume in "Live on Stage" (1985) and "The Blue Cow" (1986), animating Emily the Blue Cow. Regrettably, Nikki Tilroe passed away on September 1, 2005, following a battle with liver and kidney ailments, leaving behind a legacy of memorable contributions to the show.
Known For
The Fraggles are a fun-loving community of creatures who live in a subterranean fantasy land where they love to play, sing and dance their cares away, sharing their world with the tiny Doozers and the giant Gorgs. The series teaches empathy and tolerance and encourages children to understand people different from themselves.
Fraggle Rock
Today's Special was a Canadian children's television show produced by Clive VanderBurgh at TVOntario from 1981 to 1987. It also ran on Nickelodeon and the Faith and Values Channel/Odyssey as well as many PBS stations throughout the United States. It was set in a department store, based on the flagship location of the now defunct Simpson's in Toronto. Many sequences for it were shot at the Queen Street West and Yonge Street store after hours.
Today's Special
Big Bird is sent to live far from Sesame Street by a pesky social worker, who thinks it would be better for him to live with other birds. Unhappy, Big Bird runs away from his foster home, prompting the rest of the Sesame Street gang to go on a cross-country journey to find him.
Follow That Bird
Children's Underground Club of United Moose and Beaver for Enthusiastic Reporters or Cucumber, was a TV show produced by TVOntario in the 1970s, and repeated in the 1980s during TVOntario's daytime kids' programming. The show featured a human-sized moose and beaver often reporting from a treehouse. By sending in a story or some artwork to the show, one could become a member of the Cucumber Club. Some notable people appeared on the show: ⁕A young John Candy guest starred as a character named Weatherman ⁕A young Martin Short guest starred as a character named Smokey the Hare ⁕An interview featured a nine-year-old Jeff Healey.
Cucumber
In a special TV presentation of "Today's Special," Jodie, Muffy, and Sam prepare for a live theatre performance. However, Jeff faces a problem as his magic hat won't function outside the store, preventing him from joining them. Undeterred, he sneaks into the costume box bound for the theatre. Upon arrival, Muffy is late, prompting Jodie and Sam to begin the show without her. Meanwhile, Jeff, trapped in the box, finds himself turned into a mannequin without his magic working. With Waldo the Magnificent as their only hope, Jeff's fate hangs in the balance, hoping for a miraculous rescue.
Today's Special: Live on Stage
No description available.
Different and the Same
Maine ETV Network, 197? An early and obscure work directed by Nikki Tilroe, better known as a puppeteer/performer on Today's Special, Fraggle Rock and Cucumber. This movie is hilarious (intentionally for a change - Henson's influence is obvious) while stopping just short of being mean.
Watch Out For Poison!
Live action marionette characters tell the story of a lonely washerwoman who discovers a winged man in her closet