Welcome to Muppet Wiki!
(Smithsonian interview) |
No edit summary Tag: sourceedit |
||
| (26 intermediate revisions by 14 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| + | [[Image:Cherylhenson.jpg|thumb|300px|Cheryl Henson at the 2006 [[Daytime Emmy Awards]].]] |
||
| + | [[Image:Cherylhenson-headshot.jpg|thumb|300px]] |
||
| + | '''Cheryl Lee Henson''' (b. August 7, 1961)<ref>''[[Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal]]'' page 24</ref> is the President of the [[Jim Henson Foundation]] and a member of the Board of Directors for [[The Jim Henson Company]], as well as the company’s director for New York-based operations. She is the second child of [[Jim Henson|Jim]] and [[Jane Henson]]. |
||
| − | ==Official Bio== |
||
| − | :''from the Jim Henson Company'' |
||
| − | Cheryl Henson serves on the Board of Directors for [[The Jim Henson Company]] and is Director of the Company’s New York Operations. She is also the President of [[The Jim Henson Foundation]], an organization promoting the art of puppetry in the United States through grants to artists and theater presenters. |
||
| + | Henson is greatly involved as an advocate for puppet theater, acting as executive producer for the Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater, which was held annually from 1992 to 2000. During this same time span, she also served as Vice President of The Jim Henson Company; her role as such was as liaison between the company and [[Sesame Workshop|the Children's Television Workshop]] regarding the United States and global productions of ''[[Sesame Street]]''. |
||
| − | As the President of The Jim Henson Foundation, Ms. Henson is an ardent advocate of contemporary puppetry. Since 1982, the Foundation has awarded over 300 grants to more than 150 American puppet artists for the creation and development of innovative new works. Ms. Henson oversees a competitive granting process to encourage the best in puppet theater. |
||
| + | As a teenager, Henson began her puppet-building career working on ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' and ''[[The Dark Crystal]]''; in a 2006 interview with ''Smithsonian'' magazine regarding the American History Museum's Muppets exhibit, she mentioned that some of her first Muppet creations were a singing artichoke, asparagus, and a grapefruit. A separate television interview given the same year also mentioned her hand in creating Muppet [[lobsters]] for a [[The Swedish Chef|Swedish Chef]] skit. She appeared briefly in the behind-the-scenes documentaries ''[[Of Muppets and Men (documentary)|Of Muppets and Men]]'' and ''[[The World of the Dark Crystal (documentary)|The World of the Dark Crystal]]''. |
||
| − | Ms. Henson executive produced the award winning biennial Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater from 1992 to 2000. These five festivals presented 136 different productions from 31 countries in 24 theaters throughout New York City. The Festival won both the Drama Desk and the OBIE Award, received coverage from prestigious sources including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, CBS Sunday Morning, and National Public Radio, and is widely acknowledged as having changed the perception of puppet theater today. |
||
| + | Her involvement in Muppet productions continued after her graduation from Yale in 1984 on projects such as ''[[Labyrinth]]'' and ''[[The Tale of the Bunny Picnic]]''. She later became involved with the work of [[Jim Henson's Creature Shop|the Creature Shop]] for ''[[The StoryTeller]]'' and ''[[Mother Goose Stories]]'' following her attainment of a degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in textile design. |
||
| − | Ms. Henson served as a Vice President of The Jim Henson Company from 1992 until 2000. During this time she was the liaison between The Jim Henson Company and [[Sesame Workshop|Children's Television Workshop]] (now Sesame Workshop), the producer of [[Sesame Street]], working closely with production teams on Sesame Street shows both here and abroad. Ms. Henson believes in the power of puppets to educate as well as entertain; to transcend cultural differences and to communicate in a universal language. Having repurchased the company in 2003 with her siblings, Ms. Henson is excited to be back working with the New York branch of The Jim Henson Company where the renowned Sesame Street Muppets continue to be designed and built. |
||
| + | Henson’s work with the Muppets has also extended outside of puppet building; she served as Art Director for the Emmy-nominated ''[[The Jim Henson Hour]]'' segment ''[[The Song of the Cloud Forest]]'', and in 1994, she worked with [[the Muppet Workshop]] on the book ''[[The Muppets Make Puppets]]'', which offered children ideas and instructions for creating puppets out of household objects. She was also one of the people interviewed for the documentary ''[[Behind the Scenes in Frogtown Hollow]]'', which appeared on the 2005 DVD release of ''[[Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas]]''. |
||
| − | In 1994, Cheryl and the Muppet Workshop created a book to help children explore their imaginations by making puppets out of everyday objects. [[The Muppets Make Puppets]], published by Workman Press, sold more than 100,000 copies. |
||
| + | Henson was awarded the [[New Victory Arts Award]] at the New 42nd Street Gala on October 17, 2011. |
||
| − | Cheryl built puppets while in high school for [[The Muppet Show]] (1976-1979) and before college on [[The Dark Crystal]] (1982). After graduating from Yale (l984) with a degree in History, Cheryl continued to work on films and television specials as a puppet and mask maker. Her work is seen in the film [[Labyrinth]] (l986) and [[The Tale of the Bunny Picnic]] (1986). In l987, Cheryl earned a degree in textile design from the Fashion Institute of Technology and returned to [[Jim Henson’s Creature Shop]] in London where she worked on [[The StoryTeller]] and [[Mother Goose Stories]]. Later, she worked as an Art Director for [[Song of the Cloud Forest]], a segment of [[The Jim Henson Hour]], which was nominated for an Emmy and won a Monitor Award for Best Achievement in Entertainment Series. |
||
| − | + | Henson currently resides in [[New York City]]. |
|
| ⚫ | |||
| − | ==''Smithsonian'' interview== |
||
| + | *''[[Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas]]'' (crowd scenes)<ref>''[[Behind the Scenes in Frogtown Hollow]]''</ref> |
||
| − | As a result of the American History Museum's Muppets exhibit, ''Smithsonian'' magazine carried a short interview with Cheryl in its July 2006 issue. The interview revealed that Cheryl's first Muppet creations were a singing artichoke, asparagus, and a grapefruit. |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | *''[[The Muppet Show]]'' [[Episode 513: Tony Randall|episode 513]]<ref>[[Jim Henson's Red Book]] - [http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2014/02/05/261978/ 2/6/1978 – ‘Try to fly to London – SNOWED in with Cheryl’]</ref> |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | *''[[The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson]]'' (uncredited) |
||
| + | ==Sources== |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | <references /> |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | ==External links== |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | * [http://www.henson.com/company/cheryl_henson.html Official biography] |
||
| − | + | {{DEFAULTSORT:Henson, Cheryl}} |
|
| + | [[Category:Muppet Puppeteers]] |
||
| + | [[Category:Creature Shop Puppeteers]] |
||
| + | [[Category:Designers]] |
||
Revision as of 17:11, 8 March 2016
Cheryl Henson at the 2006 Daytime Emmy Awards.
Cheryl Lee Henson (b. August 7, 1961)[1] is the President of the Jim Henson Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors for The Jim Henson Company, as well as the company’s director for New York-based operations. She is the second child of Jim and Jane Henson.
Henson is greatly involved as an advocate for puppet theater, acting as executive producer for the Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater, which was held annually from 1992 to 2000. During this same time span, she also served as Vice President of The Jim Henson Company; her role as such was as liaison between the company and the Children's Television Workshop regarding the United States and global productions of Sesame Street.
As a teenager, Henson began her puppet-building career working on The Muppet Show and The Dark Crystal; in a 2006 interview with Smithsonian magazine regarding the American History Museum's Muppets exhibit, she mentioned that some of her first Muppet creations were a singing artichoke, asparagus, and a grapefruit. A separate television interview given the same year also mentioned her hand in creating Muppet lobsters for a Swedish Chef skit. She appeared briefly in the behind-the-scenes documentaries Of Muppets and Men and The World of the Dark Crystal.
Her involvement in Muppet productions continued after her graduation from Yale in 1984 on projects such as Labyrinth and The Tale of the Bunny Picnic. She later became involved with the work of the Creature Shop for The StoryTeller and Mother Goose Stories following her attainment of a degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in textile design.
Henson’s work with the Muppets has also extended outside of puppet building; she served as Art Director for the Emmy-nominated The Jim Henson Hour segment The Song of the Cloud Forest, and in 1994, she worked with the Muppet Workshop on the book The Muppets Make Puppets, which offered children ideas and instructions for creating puppets out of household objects. She was also one of the people interviewed for the documentary Behind the Scenes in Frogtown Hollow, which appeared on the 2005 DVD release of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.
Henson was awarded the New Victory Arts Award at the New 42nd Street Gala on October 17, 2011.
Henson currently resides in New York City.
Puppeteer credits
- Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (crowd scenes)[2]
- John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together
- The Muppet Show episode 513[3]
- Labyrinth: Firey 4 (assistant)
- The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson (uncredited)