Count on it: Beloved Sesame Street character Count von Count celebrates birthday

The one and only Count is celebrating a birthday Saturday. How many birthdays has he had? Let’s count.

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Oct. 9 is the designated birthday for Count von Count, the beloved “Sesame Street” puppet who has been reciting numbers on the children’s television show since 1972.

The hand-rod puppet was originally performed on the PBS show by Jerry Nelson until his death in 2012, and is now operated by Matt Vogel, according to the National Museum of American History.

The Count began as a parody of the Dracula character immortalized in film by Bela Lugosi. He first appeared during the fourth season of “Sesame Street.”

According to the Sesame Street Guide, the Count “is a real fan of counting.”

“He counts everything around him. He counts and counts and then he laughs and announces his total,” according to the Guide. “This is accompanied by a crash of thunder. Count’s laugh is also accompanied from a thundercloud.”

Many of the Count’s songs, including “Counting Is Wonderful” and “The Batty Bat,” are in the style of Roma music.

Several “Sesame Street” characters took to social media to wish the Count a happy birthday.

So how old is the Count? Some have speculated that the old man living in the cobweb-infested castle is 2 million years old.

But who’s counting?

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