Kevin Jeffrey Clash (born September 17, 1960) is an American puppeteer and voice actor whose characters included Elmo, Clifford, Benny Rabbit, and Hoots the Owl.Clash developed an interest in puppetry at an early age, and began performing for local TV children's shows in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, as a teenager. In the early 1980s, he began working in Captain Kangaroo, and began performing in Sesame Street in 1984.