Known For
Directing
Born
Sep 24, 1936
Died
May 16, 1990
Place of Birth
Greenville, Mississippi, USA
Credits
234 titles
Jim Henson
Biography
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, actor, animator, creative producer, and director who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating Fraggle Rock (1983–1987) and as the director of The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986), as well as creating the puppets for Sesame Street (1969). Born in Greenville, Mississippi, and raised in both Leland, Mississippi, and University Park, Maryland, Henson began developing puppets in high school. He created Sam and Friends (1955–1961), a short-form comedy television program on WRC-TV, while he was a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park, in collaboration with fellow student Jane Nebel. Henson and Nebel co-founded Muppets, Inc. – now The Jim Henson Company – in 1958, and married less than a year later in 1959. Henson graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in home economics. In 1969, Henson joined the children's television program Sesame Street (1969–present) where he helped to develop Muppet characters for the series. He and his creative team also appeared on the first season of the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (1975–present). He produced the sketch comedy television series The Muppet Show (1976–1981) during this period. Henson revolutionized the way puppetry is captured and presented in video media, and he won fame for his characters – particularly Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, and the characters on Sesame Street. During the later years of his life, he founded the Jim Henson Foundation and Jim Henson's Creature Shop. He won the Emmy Award twice for his involvement in The Storyteller (1987–1988) and The Jim Henson Hour (1989). Henson died in New York City from toxic shock syndrome caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. At the time of his death, he was in negotiations to sell his company to The Walt Disney Company, but talks fell through after his death. He was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991, and was named a Disney Legend in 2011. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jim Henson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
The First Snow of Fraggle Rock
Characters
The Muppet Script
Self (archive footage)
Joan Rivers at the BBC
Self (archive footage)
Jim Henson Idea Man
Self (archive footage)
The Muppets Mayhem
Characters
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock
Characters
Muppets Haunted Mansion
Characters
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
Self (archive footage)
Muppets Now
Creator
Unlikely Cyphers
Characters
Sesame Street: 50 Years and Counting
Ernie
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Characters
Muppet Babies
Characters
Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow
Story
The Muppets
Characters
In Their Own Words: Jim Henson
Self (archive footage)
In Their Own Words
Self (archive footage)
Fozzie's Bear-ly Funny Fridays
Creator
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story
Self
Jim Henson: Behind the Seams
Muppets Most Wanted
Kermit The Frog (archival recordings) (uncredited)
Lady Gaga & the Muppets Holiday Spectacular
Characters
The Muppets
Kermit the Frog (archive voice) (uncredited)
Epic Rap Battles of History
Characters
Jim Henson: His Sesame Street Story
Jim Henson's Tales from Muppetland
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
Characters
Studio DC: Almost Live
Characters
Reflections of 'The Dark Crystal'
Self
A Sesame Street Christmas Carol
Ernie (voice) (archive footage)
Muppets TV
Characters
5, Rue Sésame
Creator
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
Characters
Muppet History 101
Muppet Music Moments
Self
Jim Henson: Commercials and Experiments
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
Kermit the Frog
Sesame Street: Elmo's World: The Street We Live On!
Ernie / Kermit the Frog / Mah Na Mah Na / Fat Blue / The Baker / King of 8 (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sesame Street: Cookie Monster's Best Bites
Guy Smiley (voice, archive footage)
Muppets Magic from 'The Ed Sullivan Show!'
Muppet Performer
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
Characters
Kermit's Swamp Years
Characters
Sesame Street: Bert & Ernie's Word Play
Kermit the Frog / Bip Bippadotta / Lavender Anything Muppet in Fat Cat (voice) (archive footage)
Sesame Street: Play with Me Sesame
The Very Best of the Muppet Show: Volume 3
Kermit the Frog / Waldorf / Rowlf / Link Hogthrob
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
Characters
Muppets from Space
Characters
The Very Best of the Muppet Show
Kermit the Frog / Waldorf / Rowlf / The Swedish Chef
The Very Best of the Muppet Show: Volume 2
Kermit the Frog / Waldorf / Rowlf / The Swedish Chef
Sesame Unpaved