Who is James Maury Henson?

Who could make us laugh so hard using an entertainment medium so old and so conventional that it was almost absurd? Who could possibly put life in the Cookie Monster or Miss Piggy so convincingly that we found them nearly human in their emotions and behavior? Who could take two names from the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life, and use them to such perfection: Bert and Ernie, silly and lovable

Who could do all this? Jim Henson could. He was a creative and entertaining genius who lived his life through his puppets. He certainly was not the first to use puppets as part of a television act, but he was the first to do it so brilliantly. Through his association with Sesame Street, he taught our children the alphabet and how to be safe and how to enjoy learning each morning on public television.

Like many of our heroes, he lives on through his creations-movies, books, television shows and the characters themselves.

What made him the Entertainer?  

Besides creating creatures and special effects for fantasy television shows and movies, Jim Henson will always be most closely associated with the Muppets and Sesame Street. Such characters as Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Bert and Ernie, Elmo, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster were created, operated and often voiced by Henson.

Henson was born on September 24,1936, in Greenville, Mississippi. When Henson was 10, his family moved to the Washington, D.C., suburb of Hyattsville, Maryland. Henson was now able to spend more time with his maternal grandmother, who lived nearby. She taught Henson how to do needlework and got him interested in sculpture. Both of these would be valuable skills when Henson began his work with puppets. She is also credited with encouraging his emerging imagination.

While in high school, Henson began a lifelong fascination with puppetry and how it could be portrayed in a revolutionary way on the new medium of television. He believed that the TV camera, by focusing on just the puppet’s upper half, would allow much more freedom of movement than a traditional puppet stage. He took these ideas with him when he was hired-with his brother Paul-to create and manipulate the puppets for a children’s show on WTOP-TV. He began attending the University of Maryland to study commercial art, but always found himself returning to his love of puppetry.

After a few months in college, Henson would create the first Muppets (the term is a combination of marionette and puppet) for a 5-minute children’s show called Sam and Friends on WRC-TV. The show was momentous for Henson for two reasons: Jane Nebel, a performing partner on the show would become his wife in 1959 and, in 1955, a primitive version of what would become Kermit the Frog made his first on-air appearance.

Kermit would be a revolution in puppetry. Henson created the head out of softer, more malleable materials that allowed for a far greater range of expression. He perfected his techniques of using the camera frame to mask the puppet operator for a greater range of movement. Henson also created a style of movement for the puppets that involved having the operator use one hand to manipulate the upper body, head and mouth and the other hand to operate the character’s arm with a wire from below. The result was something nobody had seen before.

The small local show soon drew the attention of national variety shows hungry for new forms of entertainment. Henson’s brand of irreverent, often violent, slapstick and the novelty of the Muppet operation was just what they were looking for, and while in college he was bringing Kermit and company to programs like The Tonight Show, The Steve Allen Show and The Ed Sullivan Show.

Henson rightly sensed that he had created something with tremendous potential. With his wife and new collaborator Jerry Juhl (who would work with Henson for decades), he relocated to New York City in 1963 and founded Muppets, Inc. Soon after setting up shop, Henson created the character of Rowlf, a wisecracking, piano-playing dog, as a regular character on the popular Jimmy Dean Show. During these early days, Henson also hired Frank Oz, who would voice some of the most famous Muppets, direct films and feature as Yoda in the Star Wars series.

Henson stretched his wings into experimental filmmaking. His short film, Time Piece, was nominated in 1966 for an Academy Award for Live Action Short. Even more significant during this period was Henson’s involvement in a revolutionary new PBS show for children called Sesame Street. Henson’s Sesame Street characters debuted in 1970.

The Muppets were part of the first season Saturday Night Live cast, but did not last very long on the show. The upside to this setback was that producer Sir Lew Grade decided to take a chance on creating a half-hour variety show centering on existing and new Muppet characters. Each show would feature a guest star. Enthusiasm for the show grew quickly among adults and children who loved its irreverent humor. Soon, A-list celebrities were lining up to appear on the show.

Henson was now free to expand into film and made the hit The Muppet Movie in 1979- It was followed, in Henson’s lifetime, by two sequels: The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan. Henson’s creations also graced the fantasy films Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and The Witches. Other projects included the HBO series Fraggle Rock and an animated television show Muppet Babies.

In 1990, Henson contracted what he thought was some form of flu. It turned out to be pneumonia caused by a rare and extremely aggressive type of bacteria. By the time Henson finally went to a hospital, the pneumonia would not respond to antibiotics, and he died at the age of 53.

Henson’s son, Brian, took over the Muppets and made more movies and television shows. In 2004, he and the other Henson heirs sold the Muppet characters (except for the Sesame Street characters) to the Walt Disney Company. The Jim Henson Company still operates the Creature Shop and controls the rights to its film and television work.

The Legacy of the Henson

By almost all accounts, everyone who knew him thought Jim Henson was a terrific man to work with. He encouraged taking chances, was always there to help one of his staff through a problem and was able to clearly communicate his vision to his collaborators.

Unlike many entertainers associated with children’s television, Henson never talked down to his audience. He also recognized the importance of keeping adults entertained as well, and used sly humor, a fast pace, wacky slapstick and current references to delight audiences of all ages. Many of the catchphrases from the Muppet characters have entered the popular vernacular

If Henson had one downside, it was his tendency to push himself in what, some believed, were too many projects at once. This habit of overworking might have led to his pneumonia. His reluctance to stop work and go to the hospital could have been a contributing factor in his untimely death.

However, what most people will remember about Henson is their first glimpse of a Muppet in action and the sheer joy and wonder it could generate. Our hero treated kids as adults and adults as kids, and the world loved him for it.

Courtesy

All the Muppet movies are available on either DVD or videocassette. Compilations of The Muppet Show are also available on video, as are collections of Sesame Street, including the Muppet inhabitants. Songs from the Muppet movies and from Sesame Street are available on CD or audiocassette. Information on all things Muppetish and on the legacy of Jim Henson can be accessed through the official Muppet Website at http://muppets.go.com.

Books on Henson and the Muppets include Jim Henson: The Works, the Art, the Magic, the Imagination, David McKay, 1993; It’s Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider, Hyperion, 2005Jim Henson: Puppeteer and Filmmaker, Ferguson Publishing Company, 2006; Jim Henson’s Designs and Doodles: A Muppet Sketchbook, Harry N. Abrams, 2004; and No Strings Attached: The Inside Story of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, Macmilllan General Reference, 1997.