Pierre the French Rat

PERFORMER	Jim Henson
DEBUT	1954

Pierre the French Rat was one of Jim Henson's first puppets, and the oldest surviving today. Pierre was created in a comic strip that Henson drew for his high school yearbook in 1954 -- and when he had the opportunity to create puppets for The Junior Morning Show in 1954, Pierre was embodied as a puppet made of plastic wood.

Pierre later appeared in Sam and Friends.

The Pierre puppet is held by the Jim Henson Company Archives; it's been put on display in traveling exhibits.

The original Pierre comic strip, "Pierre the French Rat Visits NHS," is reprinted in the 2001 book Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles.

Henson's drawing of Pierre from his high school comic strip.

Pierre comic strip.

Pierre on display at the Designs and Doodles exhibit in 2003.

A crudely-drawn Pierre in the book The Value of Imagination.

See also

• Pierre (Anything Muppet)
• Pierre (frog), from the Japanese Sesame Street
• Pierre LaCousse