Jim henson when was he born

She continued her official association with The Jim Henson Company, and actively participated in the company as it became an important global family entertainment organization, collaborating with Jim Henson on a number of projects that included the traveling museum exhibit The Art of The Muppets, and The Muppet Show on Tour and Sesame Street Live arena stage shows. Known for her keen eye for spotting puppeteer talent, Jane also became the point of entry to the company for many top puppeteers.

Henson also served on the board of The Jim Henson Foundation, founded in by Jim Henson to promote and develop the art of puppetry and presently headed by Cheryl Henson. Each year the Foundation introduces thousands of adults and families to puppetry through grant-making and public awareness efforts. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than grants to more than American puppet artists for the creation and development of new work.

In , Mrs. Henson funded and founded The Jim Henson Legacy, to conserve, preserve and present the artistic contribution of Jim Henson. Henson created the Jane Henson Foundation, where she continued her philanthropic work. Henson many awards and honors. Legally separated in , Jim and Jane Henson continued to share their love of, and vision for, the Muppets. Jim Henson. Jane Henson.

Jim, Jane. Return to Top. Jim Henson Founder Jim Henson, an extraordinary artist and visionary, invented unique worlds and characters that remain just as vivid, original and fresh today as when they were created. Named Kermit the Frog after a childhood friend from Mississippi. Shares same birthday September 24 with Steve Whitmire , fellow muppeteer who took over Kermit the Frog after Henson's death. One of the main reasons why Henson preferred to use Kermit the Frog for his signature character was that he was the lightest in weight of the regular puppets and therefore one of the most comfortable for use for extended periods of time.

Created the original Kermit the Frog out of his mother's old coat and a ping-pong ball. In the beginning Kermit was not a frog, but a lizard-like character. Died the same day as Sammy Davis Jr. Had been ill 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. He declined and suggested Frank Oz for the part. His funeral at St. It was reported to be his favorite.

Before his career in puppetry, he would experiment with 8mm and 16mm film, often making animation. First met David Lazer when he had been contracted to make a few short puppet films for them. Lazer worked at IBM. In his early TV shows, he didn't always perform voices, but lip-synched to records of the day. His first television character was called Pierre, the French Rat.

It began life as a comic strip drawn by Henson for a high-school publication in On a trip to Europe, he saw puppet theater being taken seriously by adults. He returned to the United States convinced he could create a puppet TV show that would appeal to adults. The Muppets performed this song at his memorial service. Henson himself drew the tattoos on the Lydia, the female tattooed Muppet used in episode 2 of The Muppet Show The Wizard of Oz was one of his favorite films.

Arrived at his high school graduation in a new Rolls Royce Silver Cloud which he had bought with money he'd already earned with his puppets on his local NBC station. Remained a lover of expensive, luxury cars, whose collection would include a "Kermit-green" Lotus.

Once said his earliest artistic influence was his grandmother, Dear. She taught him to value and appreciate everything he saw around him. Had a hit single singing "Rubber Duckie" as Ernie. The 'famous' rubber-duck-squeaking solo in the original version of the song for the very first "Sesame Street album" is squeaked by the song's writer, Jeff Moss. When the Sesame Street cast appeared in concert with the Boston Pops Orchestra , the rubber duck was considered a percussion instrument.

Apparently unwilling to pay musicians to play a 'second instrument,' duck squeaking was limited to the percussion section when the cast sang this song with the Pops with Big Bird conducting.

Henson's final televised appearance was on The Arsenio Hall Show , just 12 days before his death. According to an interview with Frank Oz , Jim wanted to direct and produce a film version of "Beauty and the Beast" in the late s, with Tom Cruise playing the handsome prince who would turned into a beast. The storyboard was very similar to Disney's movie, even with the servants turned into magical objects, when the Walt Disney Company announced its intention of doing an animated version of the fairy tale, he decided not to go through with the production.

Upon his death it was said that Rowlf the Dog would never be used again, for this was Henson's signature character. As a memorial of sorts Rowlf is seen in a few shots of both Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space both times performed by Bill Barretta.

However, out of respect for Henson, Rowlf did not speak. It was not until The Muppets that the character had dialogue spoken by Barretta. He legally separated from his wife Jane in , but they never divorced. The two remained good friends. Apart from his family and puppets, his greatest passion in life was music.

Henson based his early Muppet designs on the drawings in "Pogo" by Walt Kelly. Henson's alma mater, University of Maryland, commissioned a life-size statue of Henson and Kermit the Frog, which was dedicated on September 24, At the entrance to the church was a plinth, on top of which sat Kermit the Frog, around his neck was a sign saying: "I've lost my voice".

In 's The Muppet Movie , in which Kermit sang "The Rainbow Connection" while perched on a log in the middle of a swamp, required Henson to perform from a specially designed diving bell underwater.

Shared his birthday with Steve Whitmire , his successor as the voice of Kermit the Frog. Jim once appeared on a radio show and brought Kermit the Frog with him. The sound person, without thinking, pinned a lapel mic to Kermit's collar.

Along with Frank Oz , painted an unsightly configuration of pipes in his dressing room of The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar into Muppet designs late one night in Oz and Henson also incorporated various feathers, fur and fabric swatches into their unusual work.

Today, the studio maintains the pipes as a specially preserved historical exhibit. Publicly criticized NBC after the cancellation of The Jim Henson Hour , blaming the network's constant shifting of the show's time slot for its demise. Though he remained married to Jane Henson throughout his adult life, the two maintained an open marriage throughout their relationship. He and Jane separated in the s, but always remained close and never divorced.

Suffered severe depression after the critical and commercial failure of Labyrinth Henson had hoped to sell his company to Disney to allow himself more time to focus on producing, directing and performing.

However, the success of Sam and Friends gave Henson the money to pay his way through college. On graduation day in , Henson bought a Rolls Royce automobile to take himself to graduation. He then turned his attention to the Muppets full time. They were featured in commercials for Wilkins coffee, their first nation-wide exposure in the late s and early s.

In , Henson was approached by the Children's Television Workshop for a new show they were creating called Sesame Street. Henson hesitated at first, because he did not want to be just a children's entertainer. But he eventually signed on and developed some of his most memorable Muppets: Grover, Big Bird, the Count, and Bert and Ernie, among others.

Older Muppets like Kermit the Frog also made appearances. Henson's Muppets contributed to the popularity of the show. Sesame Street appeared in countries in 14 different languages. Its international success made Henson famous throughout the world. As Eleanor Blau wrote in the New York Times, "the Muppets helped youngsters learn about everything from numbers and the alphabet to birth and death.

They were role models and they imparted values. By the mids, Henson wanted his own television show, but had problems getting one on American network television. Henson created two pilots for ABC under the title of The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence in the mids, but all major networks eventually passed on the project. Brian Henson told David Owen of The New Yorker, "The show was so wacky, so out of left field, that the networks didn't want anything to do with it.

Henson's pilot was viewed by a British producer named Lew Grade. He agreed to fund the first season of what became known as The Muppet Show. The first episodes aired in , appearing in syndication in the United States. The Muppet Show used both Muppets and Hollywood stars in a parody of the backstage antics. The Muppet Show also introduced another popular Muppet, the femme fatale pig named Miss Piggy, who was perpetually in love with Kermit.

At its peak, the show had million viewers each week in over countries, making it one of the most widely watched programs in history. After five years, Henson voluntarily ended the show in , when he feared the quality might begin to diminish. Henson's horizons expanded in a number of ways after The Muppet Show. He created new television programs. In , Fraggle Rock was introduced, featuring completely new Muppet characters. The show primarily followed five Fraggles, including Gobo and Mokey, and promoted harmony in living.

Fraggle Rock aired for four season in the United States, Canada and several other countries. It was eventually syndicated in 96 countries. He draws the best from everyone.