Hunt was born in The Bronx, New York City, The family eventually moved to Closter, New Jersey some years later. Hunt came from a family of performers. As a student in middle school and high school, he put on puppet shows for local children, and was a fan of the then-fledgling Muppets. After high school graduation, and a four-month stint of doing weather reports at a local radio station, Hunt pursued a meeting with Jim Henson. In 1970 he cold-called from a payphone and was invited to audition.
Career
After being hired to work on Sesame Street, Hunt mostly performed background characters. One of his first major performances was as Taminella Grinderfall in The Frog Prince, physically performing the character while Jerry Juhl portrayed the voice. Hunt performed Scooter and shared Miss Piggy with Frank Oz until the final quarter of the first season of The Muppet Show. His characters on Sesame Street included Forgetful Jones, Placido Flamingo, Don Music, Gladys the Cow, and Sully; Hunt also briefly performed Elmo before Kevin Clash was cast in that role. On Fraggle Rock, Hunt's main role was the performing the facial expressions and voice of Junior Gorg; he also performed Gunge as well as several one shot or minor characters. Hunt also worked as a director of several home video releases such as Sing-Along, Dance-Along, Do-Along and Elmo's Sing-Along Guessing Game, as well as an episode of Fraggle Rock. Hunt was close friends with fellow puppeteerJerry Nelson. Several of their characters were paired, such as Nelson's Floyd Pepper with Hunt's Janice; the Two-Headed Monster; and Nelson's Pa Gorg to Hunt's Junior Gorg on Fraggle Rock.
Personal life
Hunt was openly gay. When Rudolf Nureyev, also openly gay, made a guest appearance on The Muppet Show, Nureyev bluntly flirted with Hunt.
Death and legacy
In the late 1980s, Hunt was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and said he would continue to perform Muppets as long as possible. He died from heart failure caused by the HIV/AIDS disease at Cabrini Hospice in Manhattan on January 7, 1992, at the age of 40. He was cremated, and some of his ashes were sprinkled over the flower beds at the Hunt Family home in Closter, New Jersey. The Muppet Christmas Carol was dedicated to his memory. Following Hunt's death, the roles of Scooter and Janice were recast to David Rudman. The roles of Beaker and Statler, likewise, were recast to Steve Whitmire and Jerry Nelson, respectively, with Whitmire later cast as Statler as well. John Henson was cast as Sweetums shortly prior to Hunt's death, having initially been trained by Hunt for physical performances in the attraction Muppet*Vision 3D, before Matt Vogel was cast in the role in 2009. Hunt’s characters are now currently performed by Rudman, Vogel and Peter Linz. On Sesame Street, Hunt's roles of Sully, Sonny Friendly, and the right head of the Two-Headed Monster were also recast to Rudman until the former two were eventually retired, while the role of Gladys the Cow was recast to Jennifer Barnhart. Don Music returned for the show’s 50th anniversary in 2019, now performed by Ryan Dillon along with Forgetful Jones and Captain Vegetable.
