Dr. Teeth is the lead singer, keyboardist and gravelly-voiced leader of the band. He is green-skinned and red-haired with a large grinning mouth of teeth including a gold tooth supposedly fashioned by melting down his gold records. He sports a scruffy red beard with no mustache, a fur vest, a striped shirt and a floppy purple top hat. He has arms so long that additional puppeteers are required to guide them; this design enabled Henson to work the Dr. Teeth puppet while another performer acted as Dr. Teeth's hands in order to play the keyboard. His self-introduction in "The Muppet Movie" was typically grandiose: "Golden teeth and golden tones. "Welcome" to my presence." He often misuses long words and mangles verb conjugation. Jim Henson originally performed him, basing the character on New Orleans musician Dr. John. He was designed by Henson and Michael K. Frith and built by Don Sahlin. He debuted in "".