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Gonzo or The Great Gonzo is a puppet character, one of Jim Henson's Muppets.
He is performed by Dave Goelz.
Gonzo is blue, with a long hooked nose. On The Muppet Show he performed as a stuntman and daredevil under the name "The Great Gonzo" (or "Gonzo the Great"). He takes pride in his iconoclasm, all the while romantically pursuing Camilla the chicken.
A running gag related to Gonzo is that it's not clear what species he is supposed to be. In the film The Great Muppet Caper, he is shipped to England in a crate labeled "Whatever" (while Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear are labeled "Frog" and "Bear"). Though he rather resembles a buzzard, in Muppets From Space it is revealed that Gonzo is an alien... but it is not clear whether this is to be considered a canonical statement of Gonzo's origins. In Muppet Babies Gonzo (voice of Russi Taylor) was simply referred to as a "weirdo"--perhaps the best way to describe such a creature.
Originally in the first season of The Muppet Show the character was underplayed with a permanently sleepy look. The producers noticed that he worked better in a more energetic form and modified the eyes to have movable eyelids which helped make him a more active character. As such, he became an important principal character in the series.
His most well-known running gag is playing the final trumpet note of the opening Muppet Show theme and having some strange thing happen--the bell of the instrument explodes, sprays water, has an inflating balloon in it, or whatnot.
He has several memorable performances such as his song from The Muppet Movie, "I'm Going To Go Back There Some Day", or his rendition of "I Did It My Way".
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