- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJames Maury Henson
- Height6′ 3″ (1.91 m)
- Jim Henson never thought that he would make a name of himself in
puppetry; it was merely a way of getting himself on television. The
vehicle that achieved it was
Sam and Friends (1955), a
late-night puppet show that was on after the 11:00 news in Washington
DC. It proved to be very popular and inspired Jim to continue using
puppets for his work. He made many commercials, developing the
signature humor that Henson Productions is known for. A key reason for
the success of his puppets is that Jim realized he didn't need to hide
puppeteers behind a structure when they were in front of a camera. All
he had to do was instruct the camera operators to focus on the puppets
and keep the puppeteers out of the frame. This allowed the puppets to
dominate the image and make them more lifelike. This work on puppets
and television would lead to separate projects that had different
goals. The first one was his work on the
The Jimmy Dean Show (1963)
with the character Rowlf the Dog, the oldest clearly identified
character that Henson Productions still uses. This show provided an
income that allowed Jim to work on a pet project. That project was
Time Piece (1965), a surrealistic
short about time which was nominated for best live-action short Oscar.
Henson shot to prominence when he was approached to use his muppets for
the revolutionary educational show
Sesame Street (1969). The show
was a smash hit and his characters have become staples on public
television. Unforetunately, this also led to Henson being typecast as
only an entertainer for children. He sought to disprove that by being
part of the initial crew of
Saturday Night Live (1975),
but his style and that of the creative staff simply didn't jibe. It was
this circumstance that encouraged him to develop a variety show format
that had the kind of sophisticated humor that
"Sesame Street (1969)" didn't
work with. No American broadcaster was interested, but British producer
Lew Grade was. This led to
The Muppet Show (1976). It
initially struggled both in the ratings and in the search for guest
stars, but in the second season it became a smash hit and would
eventually become the most widely watched series in television history.
Hungry for a new challenge, Henson made
The Muppet Movie (1979), defying
the popular industry opinion that his characters would never work in a
movie. The film became a hit and spawned a series of features which
included the moody fantasy
The Dark Crystal (1982), which
was a drastic and bold departure from the amiable tone of his previous
work. The most successful TV work in the 1980s was
Fraggle Rock (1983), a fantasy
series specifically designed to appeal to as many cultural groups as
possible. During this time he also established the Creature Shop, a
puppet studio that became renowned for being as brilliant with puppetry
as ILM was at special effects. When he died all too soon in 1990, he
was indisputably one of the geniuses of puppetry. More importantly, he
was a man who achieved his phenomenal success while still retaining his
social conscience and artistic integrity as his work in promoting
environmentalism and his brilliant
The Storyteller (1987) series
respectively attest to.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@mnsi.net>
- SpouseJane Henson(May 28, 1959 - 1986) (separated, 5 children)
- Children
- RelativesKatrina Henson(Grandchild)
- Characters include: Kermit, Ernie, Swedish Chef, Rowlf the Dog
- Lanky appearance and beard
- Died a few days before the weekend he was going to sell his company to Disney, for a reported $150 million. Henson actually planned to give a good deal of the proceeds to the Muppet performers, employees of the Henson company and longtime associates. The sale would have also included a number of lucrative provisions for Henson. Besides the lump sum of cash, Henson would receive a fifteen year production deal with Disney which would have included feature films and television specials, casting power over the Muppet performers, veto power over the use of Kermit the Frog and an entire area of the Disney-MGM Studios theme park devoted to the Muppet characters. Disney Imagineers had granted Henson design input for the area, which would have also included several new attractions and shows.
- Was good friends with George Lucas, who originally offered him the role of Yoda in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). He declined and suggested Frank Oz for the role.
- Had been sick with walking pneumonia for several days before his death but never told anybody, not even his family, because, true to his character, he didn't want to be a burden to anybody. By the time he finally sought medical help, it was too late to do anything.
- Henson's alma mater, University of Maryland, commissioned a life-size statue of Henson and Kermit the Frog, which was dedicated on September 24, 2003.
- His funeral at St. John the Divine in New York was attended by over 1,000 people and Muppets, including Frank Oz, George Lucas, Richard Curtis, Kermit the Frog and Lord Lew Grade.
- When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a
difference in this world. My hope still is to leave the world a little
bit better for my having been here. It's a wonderful life and I love
it. - Despite this discussion of things spiritual - I still think of myself
as a very 'human' being. I have the full complement of weaknesses,
fears, problems, ego, and sensuality. But I think this is why we're
here - to work our way through all this, and, hopefully, come out a bit
wiser and better for having gone through it all. - I believe in taking a positive attitude toward the world, toward
people, toward my work. I think I'm here for a purpose. I think it's
very likely that we all are, but I'm only sure about myself. I try to
tune myself in to whatever it is that I'm supposed to be, and I try to
think of myself as a part of all of us - all mankind and all life. I
find it's not easy to keep these lofty thoughts in mind as the day goes
by, but it certainly helps me a great deal to start out this way. - I believe that life is basically a process of growth - that we go
through many lives, choosing situations and problems that we will learn
through. - I believe that we form our own lives, that we create our own reality,
and that everything works out for the best. I know I drive some people
crazy with what seems to be ridiculous optimism, but it has always
worked out for me.
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