Ernie is a Muppet character on PBS' long-running children's television show, Sesame Street. He and Bert form a comic duo that is one of the program's centerpieces, with Ernie acting the role of the naïve trouble-maker and Bert the world-weary foil.

Ernie is well known for his fondness for baths with his Rubber Duckie and for (not) learning to play the saxophone because he wouldn't put down the duck.

Ernie was originally voiced by Jim Henson. Vocally, Ernie strongly resembles one of Henson's other character creations, Kermit the Frog. Since Henson's death, Ernie has been performed by Muppeteer Steve Whitmire.

Ernie is of a style sometimes known as a "human arm puppet", meaning that while operating the head of the puppet with his right hand, the puppeteer inserts his left hand into a T-shaped sleeve, capped off with a glove that matches the fabric "skin" of the puppet, thus "becoming" the left arm of the puppet. A second puppeteer usually provides the right arm, although sometimes the right arm is simply stuffed and posed. Other puppets of this type include Fozzie Bear and Sam the Eagle.

Urban legends concerning Ernie

Through the years, many Muppet characters on Sesame Street have been the subject of urban legends (or, stories that usually prove to be false). Two of the most frequently mentioned urban legends concern Ernie (for reasons unknown), and include:

• Ernie will die in an upcoming episode. Fueled in part after Jim Henson's death in 1990, Ernie was said to be facing his demise in one of two ways:

• • From an illness (e.g., leukemia or AIDS); some stories even contended that a series of episodes were planned focusing on Ernie's failing health and impending death.

• • After being fatally injured in a car accident, car-pedestrian accident, or by some other disaster (such as being trapped in a burning building).

In both cases, the storyline would come to an end with the characters dealing with their emotions following Ernie's "death."

According to the Urban Legends Reference Page, there is no evidence the Children's Television Workshop ever conceived any such storylines (in part since Sesame Street had presented a story acknowledging Mr. Hooper's death several years earlier). However, newspaper stories and Internet rumors reporting plans to kill off Ernie persisted for several years.

• Ernie and Bert are gay. The source of this rumor is undetermined, although it has been suggested since Ernie and Bert are two single male characters who share a one-bedroom apartment. Some have also pointed at drawings of the two friends (in children's storybooks, no less) that purport their claims, as well as discussions on Usenet groups.

Like the "Ernie dying" story, rumors of Bert and Ernie's alleged relationship (which has been spread on the Internet) are unsubstantiated, and Sesame Workshop officials strongly insist the characters are asexual. However, some continue to insist the two Muppets' relationship is more than just "best friends."