Jim Henson

Jim Henson (September 24th, 1936 - May 16th, 1990) was a puppeteer and filmmaker best known as the creator of The Muppets and the founder of The Jim Henson Company, which is now run by his children.

He was known for some of his Muppet characters such as Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, The Swedish Chef, Waldorf, The Muppet Newsman, Link Hogthrob and Mahna Mahna.

He also performed Ernie, Guy Smiley and others on Sesame Street, Cantus the Minstrel & Convincing John on Fraggle Rock and many other characters.

Henson & Oz's friendship
After working together for so many years, every one of Henson's fellow Muppeteers eventually grew very close to him in no time at all. However, the man that it is quite clear Jim was always closest with was Frank Oz, cause of the incredible partnership & friendship that they shared. There have been countless occasions where Henson's characters were partnered up Oz's characters. While it was actually Richard Hunt who voiced Statler to Jim Henson's Waldorf, (the famous hecklers from The Muppet Show), the friendship that Henson & Oz shared was the best in the whole Muppet business. At his Memorial Service, 5 short days after Jim's death, Frank speaks of a Christmas gift Jim gave him, which he called "Bert in Self-Contemplation". He starts to cry but manages to say "That's when I knew, he loved me & I loved him."

Henson's Death & Legacy
In late 1989, Jim Henson made a radical change in his career. Wanting to become less of a businessman & focus more on the creative side of the production, he entered into talks w/ Michael Eisner to sell his company & characters (minus Sesame Street) to the Walt Disney Company. After Henson's sudden & untimely death, negotiations went awry, & Disney didn't acquire the Muppets till February 2004, which it now controls through the wholly owned subsidiary The Muppets Studio.

Jim became infected w/ a very rare bacterium called Group A streptococcus in May 1990 that was discovered too late for him to receive proper treatment. He died at 1:21 a.m. on Wednesday, May 16th, 1990, approximately 20 hours & 23 minutes after checking himself into the emergency room at New York Hospital, not realizing how sick he really was. Steve Whitmire then took over for Kermit the Frog, only months after Jim passed away, then he took over for Ernie in 1993 to Frank Oz's Bert on Sesame Street. Waldorf, in 1992, had been taken over by Dave Goelz. Starting in 1991 the role of Dr. Teeth had been officially taken over by John Kennedy, however, the character only had made brief appearances with very little dialogue. However, following his death, Rowlf the Dog was kept completely silent until episode 2 of Muppets Tonight, on which Rowlf broke his silence thanks to the vocal help of Bill Barretta, who now voices the Swedish Chef, Mahna Mahna & Dr. Teeth, as of 2005.

According to FindAGrave.com, Henson was cremated, & his ashes were scattered at his ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Jim Henson's legacy is carried on in different forms today. Sesame Workshop (formerly the Children's Television Workshop) owns all the Sesame Street characters & continues to experiment with its format. However, in 2001, they lost the rights to Kermit, as he was mainly part of the Muppets. As noted, the Walt Disney Company owns the Muppet characters & continues to use them in new productions. Fortunately, the Jim Henson Company itself, under the guidance of Henson's children Brian, Lisa, & Cheryl, John, & Heather, continues to release new material, including Creature Shop films & original content.

Muppeteer Credits

 * Henson's primary Muppet characters: Kermit the Frog (1955 - 1990), Rowlf the Dog (1962 - 1990), Ernie (1969 - 1990), Guy Smiley (1969 - 1990), Dr. Teeth (1975 - 1990), Waldorf (1975 - 1990), The Swedish Chef (1976 - 1990), The Newsman (1976 - 1990), Link Hogthrob (1977 - 1990), Mahna Mahna (1969 - 1976), Zeke (1977 - 1978, 1983), Nigel (1975 - 1976)
 * The Muppet Show characters: Balloon-Head Conductor, Beaver (217), Black Rooster (303), Blue Frackle (203), Brown Bear, 1 of the Bun-Bun Brother, Butch (416), Dancers, Doglion (224), Droop (115), Dr. Teeth, The Eel (124), Flower-Eating Monster, Fazoob, Frogs (puppetry), Fuzz Brother, Gills Brother, Green Heap, Green Frackle (occasionally in season 1), Hillbilly Singer, Jim, Kermit the Frog, Kermit the Protozoa, Lenny the Lizard (204), Link Hogthrob, Lefty, Mahna Mahna, Mary Louise (121), Mean Mama (203), Miss Kitty (113), 1 of the Muppaphone, The Newsman, The Newspig, Nigel, Penguins (423), Pigs, Prairie Dogs, Robot Kermit, Rover Joe (occasional), Rowlf the Dog, The Scientist, Silver Beak, Slim Wilson (413), The Swedish Chef, Timmy Monster (occasionally), Waldorf, Wally, Wally Whoopie, Whatnots, Zeke
 * Sesame Street characters: Anything Muppets, an apple from "Bilingual Fruit Song", As I Was Going to St. Ives boy, Baby Monster (1969), Bad Bart, Barry Rhymie, Beautiful Day Monster, Beginning, Ben, Betty Lou (occasional), Big Jeffy (in a sketch where he demonstrates scatting), Billy Monster, Bip Bippadotta, Captain Vegetable, Charlie (occasional), Dan, Ernie, Father, Fenwick, Flakey, The Geefle, The Genie (1973), George Washington ("The American Revolution"), Grandmother Happy, Granny Fanny Nesselrode, Grover (1970 - "Near & Far" sketch), Guy Smiley, Harold Happy, Harvey Monster (occasional), Henry, Herman the Hoppity-Hop, Herry Monster (1970), Hippie (1969), J Friend Singer, Kermit the Frog, The King, King Gerry the Generous, King Peter the Persnickety, Lance, Lavender "Fat Cat" performer, Librarian, Little Bird (1969), Little Chrissy (puppetry), Lost & Found Clerk, Marvin, Maurice, Maurice, Maurice Monster (occasionally), Mr. Essex, Mr. Johnson (early segments), Mr. Nose, Old King Cole's Band Fat Blue fiddler & Pumpkin bass player, Pat Playjacks, Pokey, Salvador Dada, Sam, Sammy the Snake (1984), Scudge (1969), Showered Rosell, Sinister Sam, Sneaky, 1 of Singing Dentist (puppetry), Spaceship Surprise Captain, Stan, Thomas Twiddlebug, Three Little Pigs, Tony, Warren Wolf, Witch, Yellow Submarine Fat Blue train engineer, Yip Yip Martians, Zizzy Zoomer
 * Sam and Friends: Kermit the Frog, Sam, Professor Madcliffe, Harry the Hipster, Omar, Pierre the French Rat, Yorick, others
 * Commercials: Wilkins & Wontkins, Scoop & Skip, Mack, Baskerville the Hound, Delbert the La Choy Dragon (voice), Kermit the Frog, Sir Linit, The Southern Colonel, Arnold, Fred, Nutty Bird, Sour Bird, Kenner Gooner Bird, Boy Twin, Tommy & Fred, Sneegle
 * Tales of the Tinkerdee: Charlie the Ogre
 * TV Appearances: Floating Face
 * The Ed Sullivan Show: Amanda, Beautiful Day Monster, Talking Machine, Business Business Creatures (Blue Monster, Orange Creature), Conrad Love, Dasher, Donner, The Glutton, Thudge, proto-Cookie Monster.
 * The Wizard of Id: The Wizard, The Spook
 * The Great Santa Claus Switch: Fred the Elf, Lothar
 * Tales from Muppetland: King Goshposh, King Rupert the Second, Mean Floyd
 * Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Gonzo the Great (non-speaking), Hoggie Marsh
 * Muppet Meeting Films: Leo, Kermit the Frog (1975 appearance)
 * SNL: King Ploobis
 * The Muppet Show: Sex & Violence: George Washington, Hudson, Nigel, Dr. Teeth, Kermit the Frog
 * Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas: Kermit the Frog, Harrison Fox, Harvey Beaver, Howard Snake
 * Fraggle Rock: Cantus the Minstrel & Convincing John
 * The Dark Crystal: SkekZok, Jen, SkekSo (all Muppetry)
 * Christmas Eve on Sesame Street: Kermit the Frog & Ernie
 * The Muppet Movie: Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef and the Newsman
 * The Great Muppet Caper: Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef and the Newsman
 * The Muppets Take Manhattan: Kermit the Frog, Ernie, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef, the Newsman, Baby Kermit, Baby Rowlf, Penguins
 * Follow That Bird: Ernie & Kermit the Frog
 * Playhouse Video: Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef
 * The Christmas Toy: Kermit the Frog, Jack-in-the-Box
 * Labyrinth: One of the Goblins (puppetry)
 * The Tale of the Bunny Picnic: Dog
 * A Muppet Family Christmas: Kermit the Frog, Ernie, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef, the Newsman, Guy Smiley, and a penguin
 * Down at Fraggle Rock: Behind the Scenes: Doozer (demonstration)
 * The Jim Henson Hour: Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth, Link Hogthrob, the Swedish Chef, Timecaster, Teddy Bear, Garbage Bags, Timrek the Gorf, Screaming No-Nos, various demonstrations in "Secrets of the Muppets"
 * Dog City: Bugsy Them
 * The Muppets at Walt Disney World: Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth, Rowlf the Dog, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef and Link Hogthrob
 * Sing Yourself Silly!: Ernie Ernie, Kermit the Frog, Lead Singer from One Banana