Who are the characters Bert and Ernie on "Sesame Street" named after?

The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's 'It's A Wonderful Life.'
[Incorrect links removed]

Note: Both links are from similar sites that mass produce "factoids" which can end up being non-verified or inaccurate "facts."

[Editor's note: in the time since the question was asked (2000) it has been determined that the Sesame Street characters were not named after movie characters.]

"Characters named Bert and Ernie appear in the film "It's a Wonderful Life" as a policeman and a taxi driver, respectively, though the use of the names by Henson is said to be a coincidence. In the movie Elmo Saves Christmas, Sesame pokes fun at this."

"No, Sesame Street's Ernie and Bert were not named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver from the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life". Even though many people believe they were named after these characters, Sesame Street writer Jon Stone has attested that this similarity is purely a coincidence."


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_and_Ernie

http://www.muppetcentral.com/help/faq/muppets.shtml

No one in particular. It's often said that they were named after George Bailey's friends in "It's A Wonderful Life", Bert the Cop, and Ernie Bishop, the cab driver, played by Ward Bond and Frank Faylen, respectively.
But Jim Henson had no recollection of this, and one of the producers of Sesame Street says it's just a coincidence.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/trivia