Jim Henson
James Maury Henson was born on the 24th of September 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi. He grew up as the younger of two children to Betty Marcella and Paul Ransom Henson Sr., an agronomist for the United States Department of Agriculture. His older brother, Paul Jr., died in a car crash on the 15th of April 1956. The family moved from Leland, Mississippi, to University Park, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., during the late 1940s. They later settled in Bethesda, Maryland. Henson remembered the arrival of his family's first television set as "the biggest event of his adolescence." This moment heavily influenced his interest in radio ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and early television puppets like those on Kukla, Fran and Ollie. He remained a Christian Scientist at least into his twenties while teaching Sunday school. In the early 1970s, he wrote to a Christian Science church to inform them that he was no longer a practicing member. Henson attended Hyattsville High School until it closed in 1951. He completed his high school career at Northwestern High School, where he joined the puppetry club. He enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park, as a studio arts major. As a freshman, he took a newly offered puppetry class mostly populated with seniors. Jane Nebel, his future wife, was one of those seniors.
Henson began working at WTOP-TV in the late spring of 1954 at age 18. He was hired to manipulate marionettes on a Saturday morning children's show called The Junior Morning Show. That show was cancelled only three weeks later. His talent landed him an opportunity to continue working at WTOP-TV lip syncing on Roy Meachum's Saturday show. Employment there lasted until August when Saturday was also cancelled. Meachum referred Jim to the local NBC-affiliate station WRC-TV. There Henson continued performing his puppets with Jane's help. They were eventually offered a nightly segment for which they created Sam and Friends. This three-to-five-minute puppet show afforded Henson much more freedom to develop his own creative work. The characters on Sam and Friends were forerunners of the Muppets. The show included a prototype of Henson's most famous character, Kermit the Frog. He remained at WRC until Sam and Friends aired its last episode on the 15th of December 1961. In the show, Henson began experimenting with techniques that changed how puppetry was used on television. He forewent the convention of pointing the camera at a stationary puppet theatre proscenium. Instead he used the image created by the TV camera and lens to dynamically engage with his characters. He believed that television puppets needed to have "life and sensitivity." Rather than carving wooden puppets, Henson built characters from softer, flexible materials like foam rubber. His first iteration of Kermit was made from a halved table tennis ball and fabric from an old coat belonging to his mother.
In 1969, television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and her staff at the Children's Television Workshop asked Henson and staff to work full-time on Sesame Street. A children's program for public television premiered on National Educational Television on the 10th of November 1969. Part of the show was set aside for a series of funny, colorful puppet characters living on Sesame Street. These included Grover, Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, and Big Bird. Henson performed the characters of Ernie, game-show host Guy Smiley, and Kermit. Kermit often appeared as a roving television news reporter. Henson's Muppets initially appeared separately from the realistic segments on the Street. The show was revamped to integrate the two segments. This placed much greater emphasis on Henson's work. Cooney frequently praised Henson's work. PBS called him "the spark that ignited our fledgling broadcast service." The success of Sesame Street also allowed him to stop producing commercials. He said that "it was a pleasure to get out of that world." Henson was involved in producing various shows and animation inserts during the first two seasons. He produced a series of counting films for the numbers 1 through 10 which always ended with a baker falling down the stairs while carrying the featured number of desserts.
Henson, Oz, and his team were concerned that the company was becoming typecast solely as purveyors of children's entertainment. They targeted an adult audience with a series of sketches on the first season of Saturday Night Live. Eleven Land of Gorch sketches aired between October 1975 and January 1976 on NBC. Four additional appearances occurred in March, April, May, and September 1976. Henson liked Lorne Michaels' work but concluded that their creative goals never gelled. Michael O'Donoghue quipped, "I won't write for felt." Henson began developing a Broadway show and a weekly television series both featuring the Muppets. American networks rejected the series in 1976 believing that Muppets would appeal only to a child audience. Then Henson pitched the show to British impresario Lew Grade to finance it. The show would be shot in the United Kingdom and syndicated worldwide. That same year he scrapped plans for his Broadway show and moved his creative team to England. The Muppet Show began taping at ATV Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. The show featured Kermit as host with prominent characters like Miss Piggy, Gonzo the Great, and Fozzie Bear. It also included supporting characters such as Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem with their chaotic drummer Animal.
Henson's idol Edgar Bergen died at age 75 during production of The Muppet Movie. Henson dedicated that film to his memory. The movie made $65.2 million domestically and was the 61st highest-grossing film at the time. Henson as Kermit sang "Rainbow Connection," which hit number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The Henson-directed The Great Muppet Caper followed in 1981. Henson decided to end The Muppet Show to concentrate on making films. Around 1982, he began creating darker and more realistic fantasy films that did not feature the Muppets. He co-directed The Dark Crystal with Oz. They tried to go toward a sense of realism toward a reality of creatures that are actually alive. To provide a visual style distinct from the Muppets, the puppets were based on conceptual artwork by Brian Froud. The film won several industry awards including the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film. It was less financially successful in theaters but later claimed an enormous following when introduced on VHS. In 1986, Labyrinth became a commercial disappointment despite positive reviews. The New York Times called it "a fabulous film." This demoralized Henson. His son Brian described it as "the closest I've seen him to turning in on himself and getting quite depressed." The film later became a cult classic.
Henson's final television appearance was with Kermit on The Arsenio Hall Show in Los Angeles on the 4th of May 1990. Shortly afterwards, he privately disclosed to his publicist that he was tired and had a sore throat. On May 12, Henson traveled to Ahoskie, North Carolina, with his daughter Cheryl to visit his father and stepmother. They returned to their home in New York City the following day. Due to his ill health, Henson cancelled a Muppet recording session planned for May 14. He woke up at around 2:00 a.m. EDT on May 15 having trouble breathing. He began coughing up blood. He suggested to his wife that he might be dying. Two hours later, Henson agreed to be taken by taxi to the emergency room at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. X-ray images revealed multiple abscesses in both of his lungs from streptococcal pharyngitis. He died at 1:21 a.m. the following day at age 53. David Gelmont reclassified the cause as organ dysfunction resulting from streptococcal toxic shock syndrome caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. By May 29, Gelmont noted Henson might have been saved had he gone to the hospital just a few hours sooner.
News of Henson's death spread quickly and admirers responded from around the world with tributes. On the 21st of May 1990, Henson's public memorial service was conducted in Manhattan at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Another was held on July 2 at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Harry Belafonte sang "Turn the World Around" during the first service. Big Bird walked onto the stage and sang Kermit's signature song "Bein' Green." In accordance with Henson's wishes, no one in attendance wore black. The Jim Henson Company continued after his death producing new series and specials. Steve Whitmire began performing Kermit the Frog six months after Henson's death. He was dismissed from the cast in October 2016. Matt Vogel succeeded him in the role. On the 17th of February 2004, the Muppets were sold to Disney. One of Henson's last projects was the attraction Muppet*Vision 3D which opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios on the 16th of May 1991. It closed to guests on the 8th of June 2025. In April 2024, a documentary titled Jim Henson Idea Man began streaming on Disney+. On the 7th of September 2021, a blue plaque was unveiled at Jim Henson's former Hampstead home to honor his artistic creativity.
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Common questions
When and where was Jim Henson born?
James Maury Henson was born on the 24th of September 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi. He grew up as the younger of two children to Betty Marcella and Paul Ransom Henson Sr., an agronomist for the United States Department of Agriculture.
What puppet show did Jim Henson create before Sesame Street?
Henson created Sam and Friends which aired its last episode on the 15th of December 1961 at WRC-TV. The show included a prototype of his most famous character Kermit the Frog and featured characters that were forerunners of the Muppets.
How much money did The Muppet Movie make domestically?
The movie made $65.2 million domestically and was the 61st highest-grossing film at the time. It also featured Henson singing Rainbow Connection which hit number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Why did Jim Henson die in May 1990?
David Gelmont reclassified the cause of death as organ dysfunction resulting from streptococcal toxic shock syndrome caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. X-ray images revealed multiple abscesses in both of his lungs from streptococcal pharyngitis when he died at 1:21 a.m. on the 16th of May 1990.
When was the blue plaque unveiled to honor Jim Henson's home?
On the 7th of September 2021, a blue plaque was unveiled at Jim Henson's former Hampstead home to honor his artistic creativity. This event took place after the documentary titled Jim Henson Idea Man began streaming on Disney+ in April 2024.