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[[Image:JimHensonJimmyDeanShow1964.jpg|thumb|300px|Henson sitting during a rehearsal of ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' in 1964.]]
 
[[Image:JimHensonJimmyDeanShow1964.jpg|thumb|300px|Henson sitting during a rehearsal of ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' in 1964.]]
 
[[Image:Jim-and-jim.jpg|thumb|300px|Henson with [[Jim|his puppet lookalike]].]]
 
[[Image:Jim-and-jim.jpg|thumb|300px|Henson with [[Jim|his puppet lookalike]].]]
'''Jim Henson''' (September 24, 1936 - May 16, 1990) was the creator of the Muppets, and the performer behind many of the troupe's most famous characters, including [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Ernie]], and [[Rowlf the Dog]].
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'''Jim Henson''' (September 24, 1936 - May 16, 1990) was the creator of the Muppets, founder of [[The Jim Henson Company]], and the performer behind many of his company's most famous characters, including [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Ernie]], and [[Rowlf the Dog]].
   
 
==Early Years==
 
==Early Years==
James Maury Henson was born in Greenville, [[Mississippi]] in 1936. Ten years later, in 1946, Henson moved with his family to [[Hyattsville, Maryland]], a suburb near [[Washington, D.C.]]. While growing up, he loved watching Disney films and movies with comic legends like [[Bob Hope]] and [[George Burns]], and enjoyed listening to such radio acts as [[Edgar Bergen|Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy]]. He would grow up to pay tribute to—and work with—many of these same legends. Henson graduated as a member of the National Honor Society from Northwestern Senior High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, on June 14, 1954.<ref>Program of Graduation Exercises, 1954, Northwestern Senior High School, Hyattsville, MD.</ref>
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James Maury Henson was born in Greenville, [[Mississippi]] on September 24, 1936. Ten years later, in 1946, Henson moved with his family to [[Hyattsville, Maryland]], a suburb near [[Washington, D.C.]]. While growing up, he loved watching Disney films and movies with comic legends like [[Bob Hope]] and [[George Burns]], and enjoyed listening to such radio acts as [[Edgar Bergen|Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy]]. He would grow up to pay tribute to—and work with—many of these same legends. Henson graduated as a member of the National Honor Society from Northwestern Senior High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, on June 14, 1954.<ref>Program of Graduation Exercises, 1954, Northwestern Senior High School, Hyattsville, MD.</ref>
   
 
==Sam and Friends==
 
==Sam and Friends==
Henson made his earliest foray into television puppetry with friend and first puppeteering partner Russell Wall in the summer of 1954. The two created and performed the puppets [[Pierre the French Rat]] and [[Longhorn and Shorthorn]] for ''[[The Junior Morning Show]]'' on local station WTOP.<ref name=works>''[[Jim Henson: The Works]]'' by Christopher Finch, 1993</ref> Although the show lasted only three weeks before being cancelled, Henson quickly landed a puppeteering job on the show ''Aftertnoon'' at NBC affiliate WRC-TV.<ref>Inches, Alison ''[[Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles (book)|Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles]]''</ref>
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Henson made his earliest foray into television puppetry with friend and first puppeteering partner Russell Wall in the summer of 1954. The two created and performed the puppets [[Pierre the French Rat]] and [[Longhorn and Shorthorn]] for ''[[The Junior Morning Show]]'' on local station WTOP.<ref name="works">''[[Jim Henson: The Works]]'' by Christopher Finch, 1993</ref> Although the show lasted only three weeks before being cancelled, Henson quickly landed a puppeteering job on the show ''[[Afternoon]]'' at [[NBC]] affiliate WRC-TV.<ref>Inches, Alison ''[[Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles (book)|Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles]]''</ref>
   
 
In 1955, while a college student at the [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]], WRC-TV offered Henson his own show, resulting in the creation of ''[[Sam and Friends]]''. The five-minute shows aired live twice a day after the news, and often involved the puppets lip-synching to a comedy or novelty record. Henson's co-puppeteer was the woman who would later become his wife, [[Jane Henson|Jane Nebel]]. The two wed on May 28, 1959.<ref>''[[Inventors and Creators: Jim Henson]]'', 2002.</ref> Of the cast of characters created for this series, only Kermit would remain as a major figure with Jim Henson for later productions.
 
In 1955, while a college student at the [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]], WRC-TV offered Henson his own show, resulting in the creation of ''[[Sam and Friends]]''. The five-minute shows aired live twice a day after the news, and often involved the puppets lip-synching to a comedy or novelty record. Henson's co-puppeteer was the woman who would later become his wife, [[Jane Henson|Jane Nebel]]. The two wed on May 28, 1959.<ref>''[[Inventors and Creators: Jim Henson]]'', 2002.</ref> Of the cast of characters created for this series, only Kermit would remain as a major figure with Jim Henson for later productions.
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That same year, [[Joan Ganz Cooney]] and the newly-formed [[Sesame Workshop|Children's Television Workshop]] approached Henson about creating and performing puppets on a new show aimed at pre-schoolers. The show would become ''[[Sesame Street]]'', and it introduced viewers to such memorable characters as [[Big Bird]], [[Oscar the Grouch]], [[Bert]] and [[Ernie]], [[Count von Count]], [[Cookie Monster]], [[Grover]], and eventually [[Elmo]] as well.
 
That same year, [[Joan Ganz Cooney]] and the newly-formed [[Sesame Workshop|Children's Television Workshop]] approached Henson about creating and performing puppets on a new show aimed at pre-schoolers. The show would become ''[[Sesame Street]]'', and it introduced viewers to such memorable characters as [[Big Bird]], [[Oscar the Grouch]], [[Bert]] and [[Ernie]], [[Count von Count]], [[Cookie Monster]], [[Grover]], and eventually [[Elmo]] as well.
   
Jim Henson was initially reluctant to use his characters on an educational kids' series, for fear of being typecast as a children's entertainer.<ref>Borgenicht, David. ''[[Sesame Street Unpaved (book)|Sesame Street Unpaved]]''. New York: Hyperion, 1998. p. 183.</ref> However, Joan Ganz Cooney, once remarked that while the show's creative team had a collective brilliance, Henson was the only "individual genius.": "He was our era's [[Charlie Chaplin]], Mae West, W.C. Fields and [[the Marx Brothers|Marx Brothers]]," Cooney said, "and indeed he drew from all of them to create a new art form that influenced popular culture around the world."<ref>Collins, James. "The TV Creator." ''[[TIME]]'', 100 issue. June 8, 1998.</ref>
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Jim Henson was initially reluctant to use his characters on an educational kids' series, for fear of being typecast as a children's entertainer.<ref>Borgenicht, David. ''[[Sesame Street Unpaved (book)|Sesame Street Unpaved]]''. New York: Hyperion, 1998. p. 183.</ref> However, Joan Ganz Cooney, once remarked that while the show's creative team had a collective brilliance, Henson was the only "individual genius.": "He was our era's [[Charlie Chaplin]], [[Mae West]], [[W. C. Fields]] and [[the Marx Brothers|Marx Brothers]]," Cooney said, "and indeed he drew from all of them to create a new art form that influenced popular culture around the world."<ref>Collins, James. "The TV Creator." ''[[TIME]]'', 100 issue. June 8, 1998.</ref>
   
 
On ''Sesame Street'', Jim Henson performed Kermit the Frog, the only major established Muppet to appear regularly on the new series (although [[Rowlf the Dog|Rowlf]] made one cameo). He also performed such new characters as Ernie and game show host [[Guy Smiley]]. Continuing his penchant for animation and live film-making, Henson produced, wrote, and directed such inserts as the quiet and gentle [[Doll House]] film, and the [[Number Song Series]] that always ended with a baker falling down the stairs (Henson dubbed the voice, even though [[Alex Stevens|a different actor]] portrayed the baker) and several animated shorts, including "[[King of 8]]", "[[Queen of 6]]", and "[[Eleven Cheer]]." According to season two research studies found in [[Talk:University of Maryland|CTW Archives files]], "All of the Henson films are extremely effective in getting the children to watch and to participate. The involvement of children viewing these films is remarkable."
 
On ''Sesame Street'', Jim Henson performed Kermit the Frog, the only major established Muppet to appear regularly on the new series (although [[Rowlf the Dog|Rowlf]] made one cameo). He also performed such new characters as Ernie and game show host [[Guy Smiley]]. Continuing his penchant for animation and live film-making, Henson produced, wrote, and directed such inserts as the quiet and gentle [[Doll House]] film, and the [[Number Song Series]] that always ended with a baker falling down the stairs (Henson dubbed the voice, even though [[Alex Stevens|a different actor]] portrayed the baker) and several animated shorts, including "[[King of 8]]", "[[Queen of 6]]", and "[[Eleven Cheer]]." According to season two research studies found in [[Talk:University of Maryland|CTW Archives files]], "All of the Henson films are extremely effective in getting the children to watch and to participate. The involvement of children viewing these films is remarkable."
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By the late 1970s/early 1980s, he became more involved with other projects, and therefore mainly just performed his characters in inserts rather than in the main street plots. However, he was still involved in related productions, performing his characters in the first ''Sesame Street'' movie, ''[[Follow That Bird]]'', performing his characters' voices in various ''[[Sesame Street Live]]'' shows, and also performing in ''[[Christmas Eve on Sesame Street]]'', ''[[Big Bird in China]]'', ''[[Don't Eat the Pictures]]'', ''[[The Sesame Street Special]]'', and ''[[Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting]]''. In the last production mentioned, Henson also appeared as himself in two scenes. He was also interviewed on ''[[The Sesame Street Experiment]]'' and ''[[Sing! Sesame Street Remembers Joe Raposo and His Music]]''.
 
By the late 1970s/early 1980s, he became more involved with other projects, and therefore mainly just performed his characters in inserts rather than in the main street plots. However, he was still involved in related productions, performing his characters in the first ''Sesame Street'' movie, ''[[Follow That Bird]]'', performing his characters' voices in various ''[[Sesame Street Live]]'' shows, and also performing in ''[[Christmas Eve on Sesame Street]]'', ''[[Big Bird in China]]'', ''[[Don't Eat the Pictures]]'', ''[[The Sesame Street Special]]'', and ''[[Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting]]''. In the last production mentioned, Henson also appeared as himself in two scenes. He was also interviewed on ''[[The Sesame Street Experiment]]'' and ''[[Sing! Sesame Street Remembers Joe Raposo and His Music]]''.
   
Jim Henson's last segments for the show were taped on November 21, 1989. Henson's later performances include a [[Sesame Street News Flash]] segment in which Kermit interviews a bird whose parents live in different trees, Kermit's song "[[I Wonder 'Bout the World Above Up There]]", and Ernie's song "[[Don't Throw That Trash on the Ground]]".<ref>''[[Sesame Street: A Celebration of Forty Years of Life on the Street]]'', sample pages shown at www.toughpigs.com </ref>
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Jim Henson's last segments for the show were taped on November 21, 1989. Henson's later performances include "[[The Bird Family]]," a [[Sesame Street News Flash]] segment in which Kermit interviews a bird whose parents live in different trees, Kermit's song "[[I Wonder 'Bout the World Above Up There]]," and Ernie's song "[[Don't Throw That Trash on the Ground]]."<ref>''[[Sesame Street: A Celebration of Forty Years of Life on the Street]]'', sample pages shown at www.toughpigs.com </ref>
   
 
==The Muppet Show==
 
==The Muppet Show==
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[[Image:Jimheadshot.jpeg|thumb|300px|Jim Henson headshot, circa 1987.]]
 
[[Image:Jimheadshot.jpeg|thumb|300px|Jim Henson headshot, circa 1987.]]
 
[[Image:Jimkermittmm.jpg|thumb|300px|Jim Henson with Kermit, filming ''[[The Muppet Movie]]''.]]
 
[[Image:Jimkermittmm.jpg|thumb|300px|Jim Henson with Kermit, filming ''[[The Muppet Movie]]''.]]
Henson always felt that puppetry should be for all ages, including adults, and he was frustrated that ''Sesame Street'', even with its appeal to adults, was still children's programming. The Muppets were labeled "kiddie entertainment" by network executives. <ref name=works></ref> His agent [[Bernie Brillstein]] got him as an act on the first season of the groundbreaking ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' with the ''[[Land of Gorch]]'', but with the content not written by his staff and with certain cast members annoyed of sharing the show with puppets, Henson never felt right there. Fortunately, he received another break when [[Lord Lew Grade]] invited him to produce a proposed half-hour show in [[England]]. The resulting ''[[The Muppet Show|Muppet Show]]'' became one of the most successful TV shows of all time. In addition to Kermit as the host, the show featured characters that would quickly become household names, such as [[Miss Piggy]], [[Fozzie Bear]], [[Gonzo]], [[Dr. Bunsen Honeydew]] and [[Beaker]], and [[Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem]].
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Henson always felt that puppetry should be for all ages, including adults, and he was frustrated that ''Sesame Street'', even with its appeal to adults, was still children's programming. The Muppets were labeled "kiddie entertainment" by network executives. <ref name="works" /> His agent [[Bernie Brillstein]] got him as an act on the first season of the groundbreaking ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' with the ''[[Land of Gorch]]'', but with the content not written by his staff and with certain cast members annoyed of sharing the show with puppets, Henson never felt right there. Fortunately, he received another break when [[Lew Grade]] invited him to produce a proposed half-hour show in [[England]]. The resulting ''[[The Muppet Show|Muppet Show]]'' became one of the most successful TV shows of all time. In addition to Kermit as the host, the show featured characters that would quickly become household names, such as [[Miss Piggy]], [[Fozzie Bear]], [[Gonzo]], [[Dr. Bunsen Honeydew]] and [[Beaker]], and [[Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem]].
   
 
Performers who joined Henson's ever-growing team during this period include [[Dave Goelz]], [[Louise Gold]], and [[Steve Whitmire]].
 
Performers who joined Henson's ever-growing team during this period include [[Dave Goelz]], [[Louise Gold]], and [[Steve Whitmire]].
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==Henson's Legacy==
 
==Henson's Legacy==
 
[[Image:Hensonfamily77.jpg|thumb|300px|The Henson family at their Bedford, New York home in 1977, as published in the July 1990 issue of ''Life'' magazine: (from left) Cheryl, Jane, Brian, Jim, Heather (on her father's shoulders), John and Lisa.]]
 
[[Image:Hensonfamily77.jpg|thumb|300px|The Henson family at their Bedford, New York home in 1977, as published in the July 1990 issue of ''Life'' magazine: (from left) Cheryl, Jane, Brian, Jim, Heather (on her father's shoulders), John and Lisa.]]
 
In late 1989, Henson made a radical change in his career. Wanting to become less of a businessman and focus more on the creative side of his company, he entered into talks with [[Michael Eisner]] to sell his company and characters (minus those of ''Sesame Street'') to [[The Walt Disney Company]]. After Henson's sudden and untimely death, negotiations went awry, and Disney would not acquire [[:Category:The Muppets Characters|The Muppets]] until February 2004, which it now controls through the wholly-owned subsidiary [[The Walt Disney Company#The Muppets Studio (2004-present)|The Muppets Studio]].
[[Image:Tmb jhmemory.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Muppet Babies]] mourn the loss of their creator.]]
 
[[Image:Hensonspuppets.png|thumb|300px]]
 
[[Image:Hensonmuppets.jpg |thumb|300px|Jim's Muppet characters]]
 
In late 1989, Henson made a radical change in his career. Wanting to become less of a businessman and focus more on the creative side of the production, he entered into talks with [[Michael Eisner]] to sell his company and characters (minus ''Sesame Street'') to [[The Walt Disney Company]]. After Henson's sudden and untimely death, negotiations went awry, and Disney would not acquire [[:Category:The Muppets Characters|The Muppets]] until February 2004, which it now controls through the wholly-owned subsidiary [[The Walt Disney Company#The Muppets Studio (2004-present)|The Muppets Studio]].
 
   
 
Henson became infected with an extremely rare bacterium called Group A streptococcus <ref>[http://toughpigs.com/people19900618.htm#strep ''People Weekly'', "Legacy of a Gentle Genius" by Susan Schindehette, June 18, 1990]</ref> <ref>[http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/hb/hbstrepa.htm Illinois Department of Public Health] - Group A Streptococcus</ref> in May 1990 that was discovered too late for him to receive proper treatment. He died at 1:21 a.m. on Wednesday, May 16, 1990, approximately 20 hours after checking himself into the emergency room at New York Hospital, not realizing how sick he really was.
 
Henson became infected with an extremely rare bacterium called Group A streptococcus <ref>[http://toughpigs.com/people19900618.htm#strep ''People Weekly'', "Legacy of a Gentle Genius" by Susan Schindehette, June 18, 1990]</ref> <ref>[http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/hb/hbstrepa.htm Illinois Department of Public Health] - Group A Streptococcus</ref> in May 1990 that was discovered too late for him to receive proper treatment. He died at 1:21 a.m. on Wednesday, May 16, 1990, approximately 20 hours after checking himself into the emergency room at New York Hospital, not realizing how sick he really was.
   
According to FindAGrave.com, Henson was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at his ranch outside Santa Fe, [[New Mexico]]. <ref>[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2210 Jim Henson's Find A Grave Page]</ref>
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Henson was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in New York, and his ashes were scattered near Taos, [[New Mexico]], in May 1992.<ref>''[[Jim Henson: The Biography]]'' by Brian Jay Jones, 2013</ref>
   
Today, Jim Henson's legacy is carried on in different forms. Sesame Workshop (formerly the Children's Television Workshop) now owns all of the ''Sesame Street'' characters and continues to experiment with its format. As noted, The Walt Disney Company owns The Muppets characters and continues to use them in new productions. And [[The Jim Henson Company]] itself, under the guidance of Henson's children [[Brian Henson|Brian]], [[Lisa Henson|Lisa]], and [[Cheryl Henson|Cheryl]], [[John Henson|John]], and [[Heather Henson|Heather]], continues to release new material, including Creature Shop films and original content such as ''[[Sid the Science Kid]]'', ''[[Pajanimals]]'', and [[Henson Alternative]].
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Today, Jim Henson's legacy is carried on in different forms. Sesame Workshop (formerly the Children's Television Workshop) now owns all of the ''Sesame Street'' characters and continues to experiment with its format. As noted, The Walt Disney Company owns The Muppets characters and continues to use them in new productions. [[The Jim Henson Company]] itself, under the guidance of Henson's children [[Brian Henson|Brian]], [[Lisa Henson|Lisa]], [[Cheryl Henson|Cheryl]], and [[Heather Henson|Heather]] ([[John Henson]] died in February 2014), continues to release new material, including Creature Shop films and original content such as ''[[Sid the Science Kid]]'', ''[[Pajanimals]]'', and [[Henson Alternative]].
   
==Puppeteer Credits==
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==Muppeteer Credits==
 
*''The Muppet Show'' characters: [[Balloon-Head Conductor]], [[Beaver]] ([[Episode 217: Julie Andrews|episode 217]]), [[Black Rooster]] ([[Episode 303: Roy Clark|episode 303]]), [[Blue Frackle]] ([[Episode 203: Milton Berle|episode 203]]), [[Brown Bear]], [[The Bun-Bun Brothers|Bun-Bun Brother]] ([[Episode 420: Alan Arkin|Episode 420]]), [[Butch]] ([[Episode 416: Jonathan Winters|episode 416]]), [[Dancers]], [[Doglion]] ([[Episode 224: Cloris Leachman|episode 224]]), [[Droop]] ([[Episode 115: Candice Bergen|episode 115]]), [[Dr. Teeth]], [[Eel (The Muppet Show)|Eel]] ([[Episode 124: Mummenschanz|episode 124]]), [[Flower-Eating Monster]], one of the [[The Fazoobs|Fazoobs]], [[Frogs]] (puppetry), [[The Fuzz Brothers|Fuzz Brother]], one of the [[Gills Brothers]], [[Green Heap]], [[Green Frackle]] (occasionally in the first season), [[Hillbilly Singer]], [[Jim]], [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Kermit the Protozoa]], [[Lenny the Lizard]] ([[Episode 204: Rich Little|episode 204]]), [[Link Hogthrob]], [[Lefty]], [[Mahna Mahna (character)|Mahna Mahna]], [[Mary Louise (old woman)|Mary Louise]] ([[Episode 121: Twiggy|episode 121]]), [[Mean Mama]] ([[Episode 203: Milton Berle|episode 203]]), [[Miss Kitty]] ([[Episode 113: Bruce Forsyth|episode 113]]), one of the [[The Muppaphone|Muppaphones]], [[The Newsman]], [[The Newspig]], [[Nigel (Muppet Show)|Nigel]], [[Penguins]] ([[Episode 423: Carol Channing|Episode 423]]), [[Pigs]], [[Prairie Dogs]], [[Robot Kermit]], [[Rover Joe]] (occasional), [[Rowlf the Dog]], [[Time in a Bottle|The Scientist]], [[Silver Beak]], [[Slim Wilson]] ([[Episode 413: Dizzy Gillespie|episode 413]]), [[The Swedish Chef]], [[Timmy Monster]] (occasional), [[Statler and Waldorf|Waldorf]], [[Wally]], [[Wally Whoopie]], [[Whatnots]], [[Zeke]]
[[Image:JimGroup.jpg|thumb|300px|Henson and The Muppets in 1979.]]
 
 
*''Sesame Street'' characters: [[Anything Muppets]], an apple from "[[Bilingual Fruit Song]]", [[As I Was Going to St. Ives]] boy, [[Bad Bart]], [[The Rhymies|Barry Rhymie]], [[Beautiful Day Monster]], [[Beginning, Middle, and End|Beginning]], [[Ben]], [[Betty Lou]] (occasional), [[Big Jeffy]] (in [[Grover Sketches: Miscellaneous|a sketch where he demonstrates scatting]]), [[Billy (monster)]], [[Bip Bippadotta]], [[Captain Vegetable (character)|Captain Vegetable]], [[Charlie (Anything Muppet)|Charlie]] (occassionally), [[Stan and Dan|Dan]], [[Ernie]], [[Five People in My Family|Father]], [[Fenwick]], [[Freddy Smith]], [[The Seven Dwarves|Flakey]], [[The Geefle]], [[The Genie]] (1973), [[George Washington]] ("[[The American Revolution]]"), [[Grandmother Happy]], [[Grover]] (1970 - "Near and Far" sketch), [[Guy Smiley]], [[Harold Happy]], [[Harvey Monster]] (occasional), [[Henry (Anything Muppet)|Henry]], [[Herry Monster]] ("[[Up and Down]]"), [[Hippie]] (1969), [[J Friends|J Friend Singer]], [[Kermit the Frog]], [[The King's Problem|The King]], [[King Gerry the Generous]], [[King Peter the Persnickety]], [[Lance (director)|Lance]], [[Fat Cat|Lavender "Fat Cat" performer]], [[Librarian]], [[Little Bird]] (1969), [[Little Chrissy]] (puppetry), [[Fred's son|Little purple monster]] (1969), [[Marvin (music store owner)|Marvin]], [[Maurice (Anything Muppet)|Maurice]], [[Maurice (Sesame Street)|Maurice]], [[Maurice Monster]] (occasionally), [[Mr. Essex]], [[Mr. Johnson]] (early segments), [[Mr. Nose]], [[One Banana]] singer, [[Pat Playjacks]], [[The Seven Dwarves|Pokey]], [[Salvador Dada]], one of [[The Singing Dentists]] (puppetry), [[Sam (shopkeeper)]], [[Sammy the Snake]], [[Scudge]] (1969), [[Sinister Sam]], [[The Seven Dwarves|Sneaky]], [[Spaceship Surprise Captain]], [[Stan (police officer)|Stan]], [[Thomas Twiddlebug]], [[Three Little Pigs]], [[Tony (Anything Muppet)|Tony]], [[The Two-Headed Monster's Mother]], [[Warren Wolf]], [[Witches|Witch]], [[Yellow Submarine|Yellow Submarine Fat Blue engineer]], [[the Martians]], [[Zizzy Zoomers|Zizzy Zoomer]]
[[Image:Henson.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 
[[Image:Henson-Oz-Goelz-Hunt-Whitmire-Nelson.jpg|thumb|300px|Clockwise from top left: [[Richard Hunt]], [[Steve Whitmire]], [[Jerry Nelson]], Jim Henson, [[Frank Oz]] and [[Dave Goelz]] on the staircase of the Henson Townhouse.]]
 
[[Image:JimwK06.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 
[[Image:JHKermitBlue.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 
*''The Muppet Show'' characters: [[Balloon-Head Conductor]], [[Beaver]] ([[Episode 217: Julie Andrews|episode 217]]), [[Black Rooster]] ([[Episode 303: Roy Clark|episode 303]]), [[Blue Frackle]] ([[Episode 203: Milton Berle|episode 203]]), [[Brown Bear]], [[The Bun-Bun Brothers|Bun-Bun Brother]] ([[Episode 420: Alan Arkin|Episode 420]]), [[Butch]] ([[Episode 416: Jonathan Winters|episode 416]]), [[Dancers]], [[Doglion]] ([[Episode 224: Cloris Leachman|episode 224]]), [[Droop]] ([[Episode 115: Candice Bergen|episode 115]]), [[Dr. Teeth]], [[Eel (The Muppet Show)|Eel]] ([[Episode 124: Mummenschanz|episode 124]]), [[Flower-Eating Monster]], one of the [[The Fazoobs|Fazoobs]], [[Frogs]] (puppetry), [[The Fuzz Brothers|Fuzz Brother]], one of the [[Gills Brothers]], [[Green Heap]], [[Green Frackle]] (occasionally in the first season), [[Hillbilly Singer]], [[Jim]], [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Kermit the Protozoa]], [[Lenny the Lizard]] ([[Episode 204: Rich Little|episode 204]]), [[Link Hogthrob]], [[Lefty]], [[Mahna Mahna (character)|Mahna Mahna]], [[Mary Louise (old woman)|Mary Louise]] ([[Episode 121: Twiggy|episode 121]]), [[Mean Mama]] ([[Episode 203: Milton Berle|episode 203]]), [[Miss Kitty]] ([[Episode 113: Bruce Forsyth|episode 113]]), one of the [[The Muppaphone|Muppaphones]], [[The Newsman]], [[The Newspig]], [[Nigel (Muppet Show)|Nigel]], [[Penguins]] ([[Episode 423: Carol Channing|Episode 423]]), [[Pigs]], [[Prairie Dogs]], [[Robot Kermit]], [[Rover Joe]] (occasional), [[Rowlf the Dog]], [[The Scientist]], [[Silver Beak]], [[Slim Wilson]] ([[Episode 413: Dizzy Gillespie|episode 413]]), [[The Swedish Chef]], [[Timmy Monster]] (occasional), [[Statler and Waldorf|Waldorf]], [[Wally]], [[Wally Whoopie]], [[Whatnots]], [[Zeke]]
 
*''Sesame Street'' characters: [[Anything Muppets]], an apple from "[[Bilingual Fruit Song]]", [[As I Was Going to St. Ives]] boy, [[Baby Monster]] (1969), [[Bad Bart]], [[The Rhymies|Barry Rhymie]], [[Beautiful Day Monster]], [[Beginning, Middle, and End|Beginning]], [[Ben]], [[Betty Lou]] (occasional), [[Big Jeffy]] (in [[Grover Sketches: Miscellaneous|a sketch where he demonstrates scatting]]), [[Billy (monster)]], [[Bip Bippadotta]], [[Captain Vegetable (character)|Captain Vegetable]], [[Charlie (Anything Muppet)|Charlie]] (occassionally), [[Stan and Dan|Dan]], [[Ernie]], [[Five People in My Family|Father]], [[Fenwick]], [[The Seven Dwarves|Flakey]], [[The Geefle]], [[The Genie]] (1973), [[George Washington]] ("[[The American Revolution]]"), [[Grandmother Happy]], [[Grover]] (1970 - "Near and Far" sketch), [[Guy Smiley]], [[Harold Happy]], [[Harvey Monster]] (occasional), [[Henry (Anything Muppet)|Henry]], [[Herry Monster]] (1970), [[Hippie]] (1969), [[J Friends|J Friend Singer]], [[Kermit the Frog]], [[The King's Problem|The King]], [[King Gerry the Generous]], [[King Peter the Persnickety]], [[Lance (director)|Lance]], [[Fat Cat|Lavender &quot;Fat Cat&quot; performer]], [[Librarian]], [[Little Bird]] (1969), [[Little Chrissy]] (puppetry), Lost and Found Clerk, [[Marvin (music store owner)|Marvin]], [[Maurice (Anything Muppet)|Maurice]], [[Maurice (Sesame Street)|Maurice]], [[Maurice Monster]] (occasionally), [[Mr. Essex]], [[Mr. Johnson]] (early segments), [[Mr. Nose]], [[One Banana]] singer, [[Pat Playjacks]], [[The Seven Dwarves|Pokey]], [[Salvador Dada]], one of [[The Singing Dentists]] (puppetry), [[Sam (shopkeeper)]], [[Sammy the Snake]], [[Scudge]] (1969), [[Showered Rosell]], [[Sinister Sam]], [[The Seven Dwarves|Sneaky]], [[Spaceship Surprise Captain]], [[Stan (police officer)|Stan]], [[Thomas Twiddlebug]], [[Three Little Pigs]], [[Tony (Anything Muppet)|Tony]], [[The Two-Headed Monster's Mother]], [[Warren Wolf]], [[Witches|Witch]], [[Yellow Submarine|Yellow Submarine Fat Blue engineer]], [[Yip Yip Martians]], [[Zizzy Zoomers|Zizzy Zoomer]]
 
 
*''[[Sam and Friends]]'': [[Sam (Sam and Friends)|Sam]], [[Professor Madcliffe]], [[Harry the Hipster]], [[Omar]], [[Pierre the French Rat]], [[Yorick]], others
 
*''[[Sam and Friends]]'': [[Sam (Sam and Friends)|Sam]], [[Professor Madcliffe]], [[Harry the Hipster]], [[Omar]], [[Pierre the French Rat]], [[Yorick]], others
 
*[[:Category:Commercials|Commercials]]: [[Wilkins and Wontkins]], [[Scoop and Skip]], [[Mack]], [[Baskerville the Hound]], [[Delbert the La Choy Dragon]] (voice), [[Mert]], [[Sir Linit]], [[Southern Colonel]], [[Arnold]], [[Fred (Munchos)|Fred]], [[Nutty Bird]], [[Sour Bird]], [[Kenner Gooney Bird]], [[The RX Twins|Boy Twin]], [[Tommy and Fred]], [[Sneegle]]
 
*[[:Category:Commercials|Commercials]]: [[Wilkins and Wontkins]], [[Scoop and Skip]], [[Mack]], [[Baskerville the Hound]], [[Delbert the La Choy Dragon]] (voice), [[Mert]], [[Sir Linit]], [[Southern Colonel]], [[Arnold]], [[Fred (Munchos)|Fred]], [[Nutty Bird]], [[Sour Bird]], [[Kenner Gooney Bird]], [[The RX Twins|Boy Twin]], [[Tommy and Fred]], [[Sneegle]]
 
*''[[Tales of the Tinkerdee]]'': [[King Goshposh]], [[Charlie the Ogre]]
 
*''[[Tales of the Tinkerdee]]'': [[King Goshposh]], [[Charlie the Ogre]]
 
*''[[The Land of Tinkerdee]]'': [[Rufus]]
 
*''[[The Land of Tinkerdee]]'': [[Rufus]]
*[[:Category:TV Appearances|TV Appearances]]: [[Floating Face]]
+
*[[:Category:TV Appearances|TV Appearances]]: [[Limbo]]
 
*''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'': [[Amanda]], [[Beautiful Day Monster]], [[Business Business Creatures]] (Blue Monster, Orange Creature), [[Conrad Love]], [[Reindeer|Dasher]], [[Reindeer|Donder]], [[The Glutton]], [[Thudge]]
 
*''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'': [[Amanda]], [[Beautiful Day Monster]], [[Business Business Creatures]] (Blue Monster, Orange Creature), [[Conrad Love]], [[Reindeer|Dasher]], [[Reindeer|Donder]], [[The Glutton]], [[Thudge]]
 
*''[[The Wizard of Id]]'': [[The Wizard (Wizard of Id)|The Wizard]], [[The Spook]]
 
*''[[The Wizard of Id]]'': [[The Wizard (Wizard of Id)|The Wizard]], [[The Spook]]
Line 107: Line 99:
 
*''[[The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence]]'': [[Mount Rushmore|George Washington]], [[Hudson]], [[Nigel]]
 
*''[[The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence]]'': [[Mount Rushmore|George Washington]], [[Hudson]], [[Nigel]]
 
*''[[Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas]]'': [[Harrison Fox]], [[Harvey]], [[Howard Snake]]
 
*''[[Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas]]'': [[Harrison Fox]], [[Harvey]], [[Howard Snake]]
*''[[The Muppet Movie]]'': Kermit the Frog, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, Waldorf, The Swedish Chef
+
*[[The Muppets Go Hollywood]]: [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Rowlf the Dog]], [[Dr. Teeth]], [[Statler and Waldorf|Waldorf]], [[The Swedish Chef|The Swedish Chef, ]][[Link Hogthrob]]
*''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]'': Kermit the Frog, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, Waldorf, The Swedish Chef, The Newsman
+
*''[[The Muppet Movie]]'': [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Rowlf the Dog]], [[Dr. Teeth]], [[Statler and Waldorf|Waldorf]], [[The Swedish Chef]]
  +
*''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]'': [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Rowlf the Dog]], [[Dr. Teeth]], [[Statler and Waldorf|Waldorf]], [[The Swedish Chef]], [[The Newsman]]
 
*''[[Fraggle Rock]]'': [[Cantus the Minstrel]], [[Convincing John]]
 
*''[[Fraggle Rock]]'': [[Cantus the Minstrel]], [[Convincing John]]
 
*''[[The Dark Crystal]]'': [[High Priest Skeksis]] (puppetry), [[Jen]] (puppetry), [[Dying Skeksis Emperor]] (puppetry)
 
*''[[The Dark Crystal]]'': [[High Priest Skeksis]] (puppetry), [[Jen]] (puppetry), [[Dying Skeksis Emperor]] (puppetry)
*''[[The Muppets Take Manhattan]]'': Kermit the Frog, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, The Swedish Chef, Waldorf, The Newsman, Ernie, [[Baby Kermit]], [[Baby Rowlf]], [[Penguins]]
+
*''[[The Muppets Take Manhattan]]'': [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Rowlf the Dog]], [[Dr. Teeth]], [[The Swedish Chef]], [[Statler and Waldorf|Waldorf]], [[The Newsman]], [[Ernie]], [[Baby Kermit]], [[Baby Rowlf]], [[Penguins]]
*''[[Follow that Bird]]'': Ernie, Kermit the Frog
+
*''[[Follow that Bird]]'': [[Ernie]], [[Kermit the Frog]]
 
*''[[Labyrinth]]'': One of the [[Goblins]] (puppetry)
 
*''[[Labyrinth]]'': One of the [[Goblins]] (puppetry)
 
*''[[The Tale of the Bunny Picnic]]'': [[Dog (Bunny Picnic)|Dog]]
 
*''[[The Tale of the Bunny Picnic]]'': [[Dog (Bunny Picnic)|Dog]]
 
*''[[The Christmas Toy]]'': [[Jack-in-the-Box (Christmas Toy)|Jack-in-the-Box]]
 
*''[[The Christmas Toy]]'': [[Jack-in-the-Box (Christmas Toy)|Jack-in-the-Box]]
  +
*[[The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years]]: [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Rowlf the Dog]], [[Ernie]], [[Dr. Teeth]], [[Statler and Waldorf|Waldorf]], [[The Swedish Chef]], [[Link Hogthrob]], [[Sam (Sam and Friends)|Sam]], [[Harry the Hipster]],
*''[[The Jim Henson Hour]]'': [[Timecaster]]
+
*''[[The Jim Henson Hour]]'': [[Timecaster]]
 
*''[[Dog City (special)|Dog City]]'': [[Bugsy Them]]
 
*''[[Dog City (special)|Dog City]]'': [[Bugsy Them]]
  +
*[[The Muppets at Walt Disney World]]: [[Kermit the Frog]], [[Rowlf the Dog]], [[Dr. Teeth]], [[Statler and Waldorf|Waldorf]], [[The Swedish Chef]], [[Link Hogthrob]]
   
 
==Directing Credits==
 
==Directing Credits==
[[Image:JimHensonDirecting.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 
[[Image:Jim_directs.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 
[[Image:JimReading.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 
[[Image:JimHensonHeadshot.jpg|thumb|300px]]
 
[[Image:JimHensonFraggleWorkshop.png|thumb|300px]]
 
 
<div class="appear">
 
<div class="appear">
 
* ''[[Time Piece]]'' (also wrote and starred as "The Man")
 
* ''[[Time Piece]]'' (also wrote and starred as "The Man")
Line 157: Line 147:
 
**[[Episode 303: Boober and the Glob]]
 
**[[Episode 303: Boober and the Glob]]
 
* ''[[The Dark Crystal]]'' (co-director with [[Frank Oz]])
 
* ''[[The Dark Crystal]]'' (co-director with [[Frank Oz]])
  +
*"[[I'm Gonna Always Love You]]" music video
 
* ''[[The Tale of the Bunny Picnic]]''
 
* ''[[Labyrinth]]''
 
* ''[[Labyrinth]]''
  +
* [[Inner Tube|''Inner Tube'']]
 
* ''[[The StoryTeller]]''
 
* ''[[The StoryTeller]]''
 
**[[Episode 106: The Soldier and Death]]
 
**[[Episode 106: The Soldier and Death]]
 
**[[Episode 105: The Heartless Giant]]
 
**[[Episode 105: The Heartless Giant]]
* ''[[The Jim Henson Hour]]'' (select episodes)
+
* ''[[The Jim Henson Hour]]''
 
**''[[Dog City (special)|Dog City]]''
 
**''[[Dog City (special)|Dog City]]''
 
**''[[Song of the Cloud Forest]]''
 
**''[[Song of the Cloud Forest]]''
* ''[[The Tale of the Bunny Picnic]]''
 
 
* ''[[Muppet*Vision 3D]]''
 
* ''[[Muppet*Vision 3D]]''
 
* ''[[The Earth Day Special]]'' (Kermit segment)
 
* ''[[The Earth Day Special]]'' (Kermit segment)
Line 177: Line 169:
   
 
==Songwriting Credits==
 
==Songwriting Credits==
* "[[Number Song Series]]"
+
* "[[Numerosity]]"
 
* "[[King of 8]]"
 
* "[[King of 8]]"
 
* "[[Queen of Six]]"
 
* "[[Queen of Six]]"
Line 195: Line 187:
   
 
==Trivia==
 
==Trivia==
[[Image:Hensonmanonphone.jpg|thumb|300px|Henson as "Man on Phone" in ''Into the Night''.]]
 
[[Image:TheMuppets-(2011)-TheaterCurtainRailSystemInstalledOnJimHensonsBirthday.jpg|thumb|300px|The Muppet Theater's curtain rail system, installed on Jim Henson day of birth.]]
 
[[Image:Jimstamp.jpg|thumb|300px|Jim Henson US Postage Stamp released in 2005.]]
 
 
* He shares the same birthday (September 24) with [[Steve Whitmire]], the fellow Muppeteer who took over Kermit the Frog and Ernie after Henson's death.
 
* He shares the same birthday (September 24) with [[Steve Whitmire]], the fellow Muppeteer who took over Kermit the Frog and Ernie after Henson's death.
 
* In 1991, an album that focused exclusively on songs sung by Jim Henson's characters, ''[[Jim Henson: A Sesame Street Celebration]]'', was released.
 
* In 1991, an album that focused exclusively on songs sung by Jim Henson's characters, ''[[Jim Henson: A Sesame Street Celebration]]'', was released.
Line 206: Line 195:
 
* He shares his birthday with the death date of [[Theodor Geisel|Dr. Seuss]] and ''Sesame Street'' writer [[Jeff Moss]].
 
* He shares his birthday with the death date of [[Theodor Geisel|Dr. Seuss]] and ''Sesame Street'' writer [[Jeff Moss]].
 
* Jim's last on-screen appearance was a guest appearance on [[The Arsenio Hall Show]] on May 4th 1990.
 
* Jim's last on-screen appearance was a guest appearance on [[The Arsenio Hall Show]] on May 4th 1990.
* Jim made a cameo in ''[[Jim Henson Cameos#Non-Henson Productions|Into the Night]]'' talking to his agent [[Bernie]] on the phone before he was asked to leave.
+
* Jim made a cameo in ''[[Jim_Henson_Cameos#Cameos_in_non-Henson_productions|Into the Night]]'' talking to his agent [[Bernie]] on the phone before he was asked to leave.
 
* Jim's image can be spotted on a banner in ''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]'', right outside [[The Muppet Theater]]. His birth date is shown on the curtain rail system above the stage, depicting the date of installation.
 
* Jim's image can be spotted on a banner in ''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]'', right outside [[The Muppet Theater]]. His birth date is shown on the curtain rail system above the stage, depicting the date of installation.
   
Line 215: Line 204:
 
*[[Jim Henson Biographies]]
 
*[[Jim Henson Biographies]]
 
*[[Henson and Muppets pictures]]
 
*[[Henson and Muppets pictures]]
  +
  +
==Gallery==
  +
<gallery>
 
Image:JimGroup.jpg|Henson and The Muppets in 1979.
 
Image:Henson.jpg
 
Image:Henson-Oz-Goelz-Hunt-Whitmire-Nelson.jpg|Clockwise from top left: Richard Hunt, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Dave Goelz on the staircase of the Henson Townhouse.
 
Image:JimwK06.jpg
 
Image:JHKermitBlue.jpg
 
Image:JimHensonDirecting.jpg
 
Image:Jim_directs.jpg
 
Image:JimReading.jpg
 
Image:JimHensonHeadshot.jpg
 
Image:JimHensonFraggleWorkshop.png
 
Image:Hensonmanonphone.jpg|Henson as [[Jim_Henson_Cameos#Cameos_in_non-Henson_productions|"Man on Phone" in ''Into the Night'']].
 
Image:TheMuppets-(2011)-TheaterCurtainRailSystemInstalledOnJimHensonsBirthday.jpg|The Muppet Theater's curtain rail system, installed on Jim Henson's day of birth.
 
Image:Jimstamp.jpg|Jim Henson US Postage Stamp released in 2005.
 
Image:Hensonspuppets.png|
 
Image:Hensonmuppets.jpg |Jim's Muppet characters
  +
</gallery>
   
 
==Sources==
 
==Sources==
Line 222: Line 230:
 
* [http://www.jimhensonlegacy.org/ The Jim Henson Legacy]
 
* [http://www.jimhensonlegacy.org/ The Jim Henson Legacy]
 
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001345/ IMDb]
 
*[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001345/ IMDb]
*[http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/jim1.shtml Interview by Judy Harris]
+
*[http://users.bestweb.net/~foosie/henson.htm Interview by Judy Harris]
 
*[http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/tributes/henson/index.shtml Muppet Central's Tribute to Henson]
 
*[http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/tributes/henson/index.shtml Muppet Central's Tribute to Henson]
  +
*[http://urhome.umd.edu/newsdesk/images/Henson/Articles/FAQ.html University of Maryland FAQ on the Jim Henson statue]
 
[[Category:Muppet Performers|Henson, Jim]]
+
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henson, Jim}}
[[Category:Creature Shop Puppeteers|Henson, Jim]]
+
[[Category:Muppet Performers]]
[[Category:Directors|Henson, Jim]]
+
[[Category:Creature Shop Puppeteers]]
[[Category:Producers|Henson, Jim]]
+
[[Category:Directors]]
[[Category:Writers|Henson, Jim]]
+
[[Category:Producers]]
[[Category:Designers|Henson, Jim]]
+
[[Category:Writers]]
[[Category:Composers|Henson, Jim]]
+
[[Category:Designers]]
[[Category:Animators|Henson, Jim]]
+
[[Category:Composers]]
  +
[[Category:Animators]]

Revision as of 05:52, 13 April 2016

JimandMuppets

Jim Henson with some of the Muppets from Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock.

Jim and kermit

Jim Henson with Kermit the Frog.

File:Henson&Kermit1950's.jpg

Henson refurbishing the first incarnation of Kermit (not yet a frog).

SamandFriends

Jim Henson with the cast of Sam and Friends.

File:JimHensonJimmyDeanShow1964.jpg

Henson sitting during a rehearsal of The Jimmy Dean Show in 1964.

Jim-and-jim

Henson with his puppet lookalike.

Jim Henson (September 24, 1936 - May 16, 1990) was the creator of the Muppets, founder of The Jim Henson Company, and the performer behind many of his company's most famous characters, including Kermit the Frog, Ernie, and Rowlf the Dog.

Early Years

James Maury Henson was born in Greenville, Mississippi on September 24, 1936. Ten years later, in 1946, Henson moved with his family to Hyattsville, Maryland, a suburb near Washington, D.C.. While growing up, he loved watching Disney films and movies with comic legends like Bob Hope and George Burns, and enjoyed listening to such radio acts as Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. He would grow up to pay tribute to—and work with—many of these same legends. Henson graduated as a member of the National Honor Society from Northwestern Senior High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, on June 14, 1954.[1]

Sam and Friends

Henson made his earliest foray into television puppetry with friend and first puppeteering partner Russell Wall in the summer of 1954. The two created and performed the puppets Pierre the French Rat and Longhorn and Shorthorn for The Junior Morning Show on local station WTOP.[2] Although the show lasted only three weeks before being cancelled, Henson quickly landed a puppeteering job on the show Afternoon at NBC affiliate WRC-TV.[3]

In 1955, while a college student at the University of Maryland, WRC-TV offered Henson his own show, resulting in the creation of Sam and Friends. The five-minute shows aired live twice a day after the news, and often involved the puppets lip-synching to a comedy or novelty record. Henson's co-puppeteer was the woman who would later become his wife, Jane Nebel. The two wed on May 28, 1959.[4] Of the cast of characters created for this series, only Kermit would remain as a major figure with Jim Henson for later productions.

Jim Henson made several important innovations in terms of how puppets were used on TV. The first is that he did away with tiny one-hand puppets whose heads only bobbed when they talked, preferring instead to use puppets with moving mouths and often real hands. The second innovation was to get rid of the stage that all puppets on TV hid behind, just as they did in conventional theater. He wisely realized that the TV screen itself is the stage. Freeing the puppets from the constrictions of the past, Henson found that the characters were able to move around their environment in a much more imaginative and exciting way.

Beginning in the late 1950s, while still producing Sam and Friends, Henson kept his fledging company afloat by using his puppets in TV commercials. Early forays included Wilkins and Wontkins and other characters for local companies, under the name "Muppets Inc.", formed in 1958. By the 1960s, the burgeoning Muppets Inc. had expanded to national campaigns, and one of the characters created for these commercials was Rowlf the Dog. Rowlf helped Henson get nationwide attention for the first time by appearing in regular comedy bits on The Jimmy Dean Show. This led to increased appearances by the Muppets on variety shows and talk shows, including Today and The Ed Sullivan Show.

During this time, Jim Henson met and hired two more people who would become enormously important to his work: Frank Oz, who Henson once called "absolutely the greatest puppeteer in the world"[5] and Jerry Juhl, who would have a hand in writing nearly every Muppet production for 35 years. In 1962, Don Sahlin also joined the Muppets, building Rowlf and laying the foundations for the Muppet Workshop. Apart from puppetry, Henson also experimented as an animator and filmmaker, with such films as the 1965 Academy Award nominated short Time Piece (which he wrote, directed, and starred in), several comedic industrial films (paving the way for the Muppet Meeting Films), the documentary Youth '68, and the hour-long experimental drama The Cube in 1969.

Sesame Street

Henker60s

Jim and Kermit filming the Sesame Street pitch reel from 1969. By using the television medium, Henson found that puppets could be more expressive and close to the audience. The most significant example of this idea is Kermit the Frog.

Ssbts henson

Henson and Jon Stone on set of one of Kermit's lecture sketches.

File:Jim Ernie.jpg

Jim Henson with Ernie.

Jimhensonandguysmiley

Henson with Guy Smiley during the taping of "Beat The Time."

That same year, Joan Ganz Cooney and the newly-formed Children's Television Workshop approached Henson about creating and performing puppets on a new show aimed at pre-schoolers. The show would become Sesame Street, and it introduced viewers to such memorable characters as Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, Count von Count, Cookie Monster, Grover, and eventually Elmo as well.

Jim Henson was initially reluctant to use his characters on an educational kids' series, for fear of being typecast as a children's entertainer.[6] However, Joan Ganz Cooney, once remarked that while the show's creative team had a collective brilliance, Henson was the only "individual genius.": "He was our era's Charlie Chaplin, Mae West, W. C. Fields and Marx Brothers," Cooney said, "and indeed he drew from all of them to create a new art form that influenced popular culture around the world."[7]

On Sesame Street, Jim Henson performed Kermit the Frog, the only major established Muppet to appear regularly on the new series (although Rowlf made one cameo). He also performed such new characters as Ernie and game show host Guy Smiley. Continuing his penchant for animation and live film-making, Henson produced, wrote, and directed such inserts as the quiet and gentle Doll House film, and the Number Song Series that always ended with a baker falling down the stairs (Henson dubbed the voice, even though a different actor portrayed the baker) and several animated shorts, including "King of 8", "Queen of 6", and "Eleven Cheer." According to season two research studies found in CTW Archives files, "All of the Henson films are extremely effective in getting the children to watch and to participate. The involvement of children viewing these films is remarkable."

Although increasingly individuals like Don Sahlin, Kermit Love, and other Muppet Workshop employees gained greater responsibility for character development, Henson still supplied the initial sketches for many of the key characters, including Ernie, Bert, and The Amazing Mumford. As evidenced in Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles, while Love and Sahlin built Big Bird, Henson devised the initial concept of a full bodied character, and supplied sketches showing how he would be performed.

By the late 1970s/early 1980s, he became more involved with other projects, and therefore mainly just performed his characters in inserts rather than in the main street plots. However, he was still involved in related productions, performing his characters in the first Sesame Street movie, Follow That Bird, performing his characters' voices in various Sesame Street Live shows, and also performing in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Big Bird in China, Don't Eat the Pictures, The Sesame Street Special, and Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting. In the last production mentioned, Henson also appeared as himself in two scenes. He was also interviewed on The Sesame Street Experiment and Sing! Sesame Street Remembers Joe Raposo and His Music.

Jim Henson's last segments for the show were taped on November 21, 1989. Henson's later performances include "The Bird Family," a Sesame Street News Flash segment in which Kermit interviews a bird whose parents live in different trees, Kermit's song "I Wonder 'Bout the World Above Up There," and Ernie's song "Don't Throw That Trash on the Ground."[8]

The Muppet Show

Performing Kermit copy

Henson performing Kermit

Jimhensonkermit77
File:Jimheadshot.jpeg

Jim Henson headshot, circa 1987.

Jimkermittmm

Jim Henson with Kermit, filming The Muppet Movie.

Henson always felt that puppetry should be for all ages, including adults, and he was frustrated that Sesame Street, even with its appeal to adults, was still children's programming. The Muppets were labeled "kiddie entertainment" by network executives. [2] His agent Bernie Brillstein got him as an act on the first season of the groundbreaking Saturday Night Live with the Land of Gorch, but with the content not written by his staff and with certain cast members annoyed of sharing the show with puppets, Henson never felt right there. Fortunately, he received another break when Lew Grade invited him to produce a proposed half-hour show in England. The resulting Muppet Show became one of the most successful TV shows of all time. In addition to Kermit as the host, the show featured characters that would quickly become household names, such as Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, and Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

Performers who joined Henson's ever-growing team during this period include Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, and Steve Whitmire.

Henson created another innovation starting with The Muppet Show: from now on, all productions would be platformed up, so that humans could move about freely and interact convincingly with the puppets, while the puppeteers could remain easily hidden, and move about their environment with even greater fluidity than before.

In 1979, Jerry Juhl described Henson's unique working style in an article about the making of The Muppets Go Hollywood special: "The [production assistants] are running around screaming, 'How are we ever going to do all this?' And Jim is wandering around in the middle of it all, perfectly calm, perfectly content. You go to him and ask, 'How's it going?' And he says, 'Oh, fine. There were hardly any airplanes overhead when we filmed Miss Piggy by the pool.' He's just like Kermit -- if The Muppet Show had a basketball team, the score would always be Frog 99, Chaos 98." [9]

The Muppet Show was so successful that it spawned three movies during Henson's lifetime (and more since): The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan. Each film provided Henson with further opportunities to break technological barriers, including allowing Kermit to ride a bike.

Fantasy Films

Jhdc

Henson with some of The Dark Crystal puppets.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Henson moved on to an even more ambitious project. With the help of fantasy illustrator Brian Froud, he created a Tolkien-like world for the film The Dark Crystal. This production was entirely populated by extremely detailed, realistic-looking puppets -- a major breakthrough and change from the (intended) cartoony look of the earlier Muppets. Though an initial box-office failure, The Dark Crystal later developed a following as a widely respected cult film.

Based on what he and his team learned from their experiences on The Dark Crystal, Jim Henson founded the Creature Shop to create new characters both for Henson movies and for outside productions. In-house productions during his lifetime included Labyrinth and The StoryTeller, while outside productions included Dreamchild, The Bear, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Witches.

Fraggle Rock

Jim and junior

Henson with Junior Gorg.

Jimtownhousecolor

Henson poses in front of a mural by Coulter Watt that was displayed for years in the Henson Townhouse in NYC.

In 1983, Henson introduced a new show for children called Fraggle Rock. The show was concerned with promoting understanding across cultures and around the world, a subject that was very important to him. Henson was the guiding force in developing the concept for the series, which began with his own notes for "The Woozle World" scribbled on a small pad. Later, in collaboration with such team members as Jerry Juhl and Jocelyn Stevenson, this extended to specific personality details coining and character names (with Boober named after a cow encountered by Henson's daughters). As Henson defined the series' purpose in that first draft, "What the show is really about is people getting along with other people, and understanding the delicate balance of the natural world. These are topics that can be dealt with in a symbolic way, which is what puppets basically do all the time." From the beginning, Henson also insisted that the show be tailored for different countries, so that the message about brotherhood and understanding conflicting cultures could be spread to as many nations as possible. This led to co-productions, with involvements ranging from completely new frame sequences tailored to each nation to unique Uncle Traveling Matt postcard inserts, to simple dialogue dubs.

Although very much involved in the series as a creator, and serving as a director on several episodes, by this point Jim Henson was becoming increasingly "hands-off" as a performer and beginning to look at ambitious "realistic" puppet projects, instead assigning the regular roles to The Muppet Show veterans as well as up-and-comers and Canadian talent. However, his very occasional appearances on Fraggle Rock showcased two scene-stealing characters, the enigmatic, "implacably calm" Cantus the Minstrel, who represented Henson's Zen-like beliefs and musical interests, and the flamboyant, fast-talking Convincing John, representing Henson's more frenetic, showman qualities.

The Jim Henson Hour

Jimhour

Jim Henson and the Thought Lion hosting The Jim Henson Hour.

Jim Henson continued to innovate with the creation of the computer-generated puppet character Waldo C. Graphic for The Jim Henson Hour in 1989. Years before the widespread use of CGI and the rise of Pixar Animation Studios, Henson had a computerized character interacting with Muppets on a weekly TV show. A puppeteer could perform the character in real time with the other Muppets, thanks to the Henson Performance Control System. Waldo would later have a prominent role in Muppet*Vision 3D.

On The Jim Henson Hour, Jim Henson appeared as himself in introductions and closings for the show. He hosted Jim Henson Hour pitch tape and The Secrets of the Muppets. Jim Henson also won an emmy for directing one special featured in this series, Dog City. Although most of his major characters from The Muppet Show made at least one appearance on The Jim Henson Hour, Henson did not perform any new recurring characters in the series.

Henson's Legacy

Hensonfamily77

The Henson family at their Bedford, New York home in 1977, as published in the July 1990 issue of Life magazine: (from left) Cheryl, Jane, Brian, Jim, Heather (on her father's shoulders), John and Lisa.

In late 1989, Henson made a radical change in his career. Wanting to become less of a businessman and focus more on the creative side of his company, he entered into talks with Michael Eisner to sell his company and characters (minus those of Sesame Street) to The Walt Disney Company. After Henson's sudden and untimely death, negotiations went awry, and Disney would not acquire The Muppets until February 2004, which it now controls through the wholly-owned subsidiary The Muppets Studio.

Henson became infected with an extremely rare bacterium called Group A streptococcus [10] [11] in May 1990 that was discovered too late for him to receive proper treatment. He died at 1:21 a.m. on Wednesday, May 16, 1990, approximately 20 hours after checking himself into the emergency room at New York Hospital, not realizing how sick he really was.

Henson was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in New York, and his ashes were scattered near Taos, New Mexico, in May 1992.[12]

Today, Jim Henson's legacy is carried on in different forms. Sesame Workshop (formerly the Children's Television Workshop) now owns all of the Sesame Street characters and continues to experiment with its format. As noted, The Walt Disney Company owns The Muppets characters and continues to use them in new productions. The Jim Henson Company itself, under the guidance of Henson's children Brian, Lisa, Cheryl, and Heather (John Henson died in February 2014), continues to release new material, including Creature Shop films and original content such as Sid the Science Kid, Pajanimals, and Henson Alternative.

Muppeteer Credits

Directing Credits

Writing Credits

Songwriting Credits

Producer Credits

Executive Producer Credits

Trivia

See also

Gallery

Sources

  1. Program of Graduation Exercises, 1954, Northwestern Senior High School, Hyattsville, MD.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Jim Henson: The Works by Christopher Finch, 1993
  3. Inches, Alison Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles
  4. Inventors and Creators: Jim Henson, 2002.
  5. Gale Research Company. Something about the Author. Volume 43. 1986
  6. Borgenicht, David. Sesame Street Unpaved. New York: Hyperion, 1998. p. 183.
  7. Collins, James. "The TV Creator." TIME, 100 issue. June 8, 1998.
  8. Sesame Street: A Celebration of Forty Years of Life on the Street, sample pages shown at www.toughpigs.com
  9. The New York Times Magazine, "Muppets in Movieland" by John Culhane, June 10, 1979.
  10. People Weekly, "Legacy of a Gentle Genius" by Susan Schindehette, June 18, 1990
  11. Illinois Department of Public Health - Group A Streptococcus
  12. Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones, 2013

External links