The Puppet Man

Everyone knows the Muppets. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzy-bear, Gonzo, and, of course, Big Bird. They've been around for years, teaching kids around the English speaking world their letters and morals. But how did these loved icons come to be?

Two words: Jim Henson.

Mr. Henson was born in Greenville, Mississippi on September 24th, 1936. As a kid he begged his parents to buy a television so he could enjoy his favorite program, 'Punch and Judy'. Around 1946, he and his family moved to Washington, D.C.

When Henson was in high school, he began performing with a local television network (WTOP). When he entered college, he and one of his classmates, Jane Nebel, started working for an NBC television show, performing with his own puppets. These puppets, which Henson called 'Muppets' gained a lot of popularity and soon received their own television show, called 'Sam and Friends'. The show aired from 1955 until 1961. In 1959, Mr. Henson and Jane Nebel married.

In 1964, Henson wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the Academy-Award winning movie, 'Timepiece'. However, throughout his experiments with film Henson never forgot his friends, the Muppets, who had gained a very large following. Henson created several made-for-TV movies starring the Muppets, including 'Hey, Cinderella!' (1968 ), "Tales from Muppetland - The Frog Prince" (1971), and "The Muppet Musicians of Bremen" (1972). Henson gained additional support when he found Jerry Juhl, Don Sahlin, and Frank Oz during the 1960's.

Soon afterwards, Henson was asked to create a television show directed at preschool-age children. In 1970, Sesame Street was aired for the first time. It succeeded immensely. It soon became 'the most important children's television program in history.' Henson soon made several more TV specials, 'Muppet Valentine Special' and 'The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence', both in 1974.

During the five years that the Muppet show aired, Henson also made two other Muppet movies, including The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper.

Henson continued to produce muppet television show/specials such as "The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show" in 1982 and "Fraggle Rock" in 1983. In 1984 Henson released another Muppet film, Muppets Take Manhattan as well as the new cartoon "Muppet Babies".

From 1989 to 1990 Henson started to make another film under the direction of Nicholas Roeg. The Witches, starring Angelica Houston, dealt with animitronics as well as puppetry. Tragically, Henson did not live to see the final production. On May 16, 1990, Jim Henson died of toxic shock syndrome. His costars continued to make several movies after his death, including my personal favorites Muppet Treasure Island and A Muppet Christmas Carol, as well as the most recent, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.

Your legacy will be remembered.