Skip to main content
Jim Henson

Jim Henson

Director · 1936 – 1990 · Greenville, Mississippi, USA

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.

Movies24

  • Movie7.3

    Labyrinth

    1986 · 2.9K votes

  • Movie6.7

    The Muppets

    2011 · 1.7K votes

  • Movie8.5
  • Movie7.2

    The Muppet Movie

    1979 · 722 votes

  • Movie6.3

    Muppets Most Wanted

    2014 · 915 votes

  • Movie7.2

    The Dark Crystal

    1982 · 1.3K votes

  • Movie6.5

    Into the Night

    1985 · 341 votes

  • Movie7.8

    Jim Henson Idea Man

    2024 · 59 votes

  • Movie7.0
  • Movie6.6
  • Movie6.8

    Night of 100 Stars II

    1985 · 5 votes

  • Movie6.9

    The Great Muppet Caper

    1981 · 355 votes

  • Movie6.1

    The Earth Day Special

    1990 · 12 votes

  • Movie8.1

    Dog City

    1989 · 8 votes

  • Movie6.4

    Follow That Bird

    1985 · 92 votes

  • Movie6.8
  • Movie7.4
  • Movie6.2

    The Muppets Go Hollywood

    1979 · 26 votes

  • Movie6.9

    A Muppet Family Christmas

    1987 · 117 votes

  • Movie6.1
  • Movie7.6

    Inside the Labyrinth

    1986 · 20 votes

  • Movie7.3
  • Movie7.0
  • Movie7.1

    The Cube

    1969 · 30 votes

Series22

  • TV7.1

    Sesame Street

    1969 · 293 votes

  • TV6.9

    Saturday Night Live

    1975 · 527 votes

  • TV5.8

    The Mike Douglas Show

    1961 · 11 votes

  • TV6.1

    Great Performances

    1971 · 25 votes

  • TV6.8

    The Dick Cavett Show

    1968 · 22 votes

  • TV5.3

    Wogan

    1982 · 7 votes

  • TV7.0

    The Oscars

    1953 · 84 votes

  • TV8.4

    Reading Rainbow

    1983 · 51 votes

  • TV7.9
  • TV7.3

    Fraggle Rock

    1983 · 199 votes

  • TV8.0

    The Muppet Show

    1976 · 363 votes

  • TV9.0

    The Jim Henson Hour

    1989 · 11 votes

  • TV7.0

    Einer wird gewinnen

    1964 · 2 votes

  • TV8.0
  • TV
  • TV10.0

    Dolly

    1987 · 1 votes

  • TV5.5
  • TV
  • TV8.8
  • TV
  • TV
  • TV9.5

    Sam and Friends

    1955 · 2 votes