He was inside Jabba the Hut in “Return of the Jedi,” helped make “The Muppets” come alive and has been pulling the strings on Yoda since he was 19 years old. Meet Dave Barclay, the puppet master, builder and animatronic supervisor responsible for some of your favorite characters on film and TV. He started his career as an assistant puppeteer for Yoda (did you know it took 5 puppeteers to control Yoda?) in “The Empire Strikes Back” under legendary puppeteer Frank Oz. Today, he’s the chief puppeteer responsible for Jabba the Hut, taking your favorite “Star Wars” characters from words on a page to a galaxy far, far away.
