Jim Henson

Guide Note

Puppeteer Jim Henson was the creator of The Muppets and the founder of both the Jim Henson Company and Jim Henson Creature Shop. An innovator in the television industry, Henson realized that puppets made of soft materials such as foam rubber could be more expressive¹, and that he could use a camera to hide a puppeteer, thus making the puppet itself the focal point of the image. Henson created a number of classic TV shows and films, including The Muppet Show, The Dark Crystal and Sesame Street. Henson died of organ failure due to infection by bacterial pneumonia on May 16, 1990.

Fast Facts

1. Born: September 24, 1936 in Mississippi
2. The Hollywood Walk of Fame features tributes to both Henson and Kermit the Frog
3. Spouse: Jane Nebel
4. Provided voices for Kermit, Ernie, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, Swedish Chef, Waldorf, Cookie Monster and others
5. Son Brian now voices most of the characters once performed by Henson

Henson started working with puppets for a local TV show while still attending Northwestern High School. He continued studying the form at University of Maryland, College Park as an arts major, and created the five-minute short Sam and Friends,¹ which includes an early incarnation of Kermit the Frog, while he was still a student.

Henson gained minor fame making commercials with his puppets and as a guest on variety and talk shows, including The Ed Sullivan Show, on which he would appear with his creations. In 1969, he teamed with the Children's Television Workshop to create Sesame Street for public television. Sesame Street, an educational show for children, features several Muppet characters such as Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie and Big Bird. Many of these characters were voiced by Henson himself.

The Muppets made several appearances on the first season of Saturday Night Live, but the concept was soon scrapped in favor of a show centered entirely around Henson's creations - 1976's The Muppet Show, which ran until 1981.

The first feature-length Muppet film was 1979's The Muppet Movie, followed by 1981's The Great Muppet Caper, which Henson directed himself. More films would follow, including some that did not include the main Muppet cast of characters, such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Henson also created a number of original TV series in the 1980s and 1990s, including the animated series Muppet Babies and the HBO classic Fraggle Rock.

Henson had been traveling and doing a publicity tour when he started to complain of flu-like symptoms. By the time he eventually went to an emergency room, his body had entered septic shock and it was too late to save his life. Henson died as negotiations were ongoing to sell the Muppet brand to The Walt Disney Company.²