Jim Henson Biography

Occup.Entertainer
FromUSA
BornSeptember 24, 1936
DiedMay 16, 1990
Aged53 years
Jim Henson, a renowned puppeteer and imaginative visionary, was born James Maury Henson on September 24, 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi, United States. Henson was best recognized for his creation of The Muppets, a team of cutting-edge as well as charming creature personalities that brought giggling as well as joy to countless people around the globe. Throughout his life, Henson remained committed to amusing as well as enlightening kids, as well as cultivating their creativities.

Henson invested the majority of his early youth in Leland, Mississippi, prior to moving to Maryland with his household when he was 12 years of ages. Growing up, Henson was especially influenced by radio and also tv musicians, including ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and also puppeteer Bil Baird. In his teen years, Henson began explore puppetry and also created his first initial personality, Pierre the French Rat, while attending senior high school. Later on, as a fresher at the University of Maryland, College Park, Henson produced "Sam as well as Friends," a five-minute creature show that aired on local TV terminals.

The success of "Sam and also Friends" led Henson to check out brand-new artistic regions, including servicing commercials as well as animation jobs. It was during these very early years of his career when he produced some of his most long-lasting personalities, like Kermit the Frog, who would certainly later on take place to become one of the most identifiable faces on the planet.

In 1969, Henson was welcomed to sign up with a new instructional kids's tv program called "Sesame Street," where he introduced personalities like Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, as well as Elmo. The innovative puppetry and also psychologically engaging storytelling within the program made Henson a household name as well as permitted him to affect the lives of several youngsters worldwide. When "Sesame Street" became a massive success, Henson saw the possibility to increase The Muppets' appeal and debuted "The Muppet Show" in 1976. The show became an immediate hit, introducing a more comprehensive target market to personalities like Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and also Gonzo.

Henson's creativity additionally led him to produce fantasy movies such as "The Dark Crystal" (1982) and "Labyrinth" (1986), both of which were produced in partnership with skilled artists like illustrator Brian Froud and renowned puppeteer Frank Oz. Henson as well as Oz's collaboration verified to be a respected and also sustaining one, with the two functioning very closely together throughout Henson's profession.

Besides his effective tv as well as movie occupation, Henson additionally left an impact on the technological advancements in the field of puppetry, as he started the Creature Shop, where he established sophisticated animatronics and also unique impacts for various manufacturings.

Sadly, Jim Henson's life would be tragically interrupted on May 16, 1990, when he died of an unusual microbial infection at the age of 53. His fatality was a great loss to the world of home entertainment and also art, but his creations continue to influence new generations of followers.

To conclude, Jim Henson was not only a puppeteer however also a film supervisor, producer, and one of the most influential as well as ingenious numbers in the entertainment industry. His enthusiasm and ruthless drive to develop modification lives on with his characters, leaving a legacy that will certainly reverberate with target markets for generations to come.

Our collection contains 31 quotes who is written / told by Jim.

Related authors: Jennifer Connelly (Actress), Frank Oz (Actor), Edgar Bergen (Actor), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete), David Bowie (Musician)

31 Famous quotes by Jim Henson

Small: And also there wasnt much money in television in those days anyhow
"And also there wasn't much money in television in those days anyhow"
Small: It has always been difficult to get Big Bird to be very pretty. Big Bird in England is much more gorgeo
"It has always been difficult to get Big Bird to be very pretty. Big Bird in England is much more gorgeous"
Small: If anything, theres a difference in working with color in England and the color in the US
"If anything, there's a difference in working with color in England and the color in the US"
Small: I think my own strengths are in television production
"I think my own strengths are in television production"
Small: Youre assisting the audience to understand youre giving them a bridge or an access. And if you dont giv
"You're assisting the audience to understand; you're giving them a bridge or an access. And if you don't give them that, if you keep it more abstract, it's almost more pure. It's a cooler thing"
Small: When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world.
"When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there"
Small: If youre doing a large, complicated character with radio controls, it might take a number of people sev
"If you're doing a large, complicated character with radio controls, it might take a number of people several months to make it and if you're talking about a quick little hand puppet, it could be made in 2 days, so there's enormous range there, and no real easy generalities"
Small: I decided that what I really wanted to do was go off and paint
"I decided that what I really wanted to do was go off and paint"
Small: Actually the copies of characters is something I dont particularly like to talk about in articles but j
"Actually the copies of characters is something I don't particularly like to talk about in articles but just for your information, most characters there's only one"
Small: Yeah, I did some small parts in high school and the first year of college and then fairly soon thereaft
"Yeah, I did some small parts in high school and the first year of college and then fairly soon thereafter I settled into the backstage scenery, and then at the University of Maryland I was doing posters for their productions"
Small: There was a little afternoon show that was called Afternoon. Back in those days in television, most loc
"There was a little afternoon show that was called Afternoon. Back in those days in television, most local stations had a midday show for housewives that had a series of things. It was like a variety show for midday"
Small: Somebody like a Piggy or a Kermit, there needs to be several versions and so there will be several of t
"Somebody like a Piggy or a Kermit, there needs to be several versions and so there will be several of them"
Small: Its into the same bag as E.T. and Yoda, wherein youre trying to create something that people will actua
"It's into the same bag as E.T. and Yoda, wherein you're trying to create something that people will actually believe, but it's not so much a symbol of the thing, but you're trying to do the thing itself"
Small: Yeah, I think we did the term Muppets before we got the show Sam and Friends - a few months after I sta
"Yeah, I think we did the term Muppets before we got the show Sam and Friends - a few months after I started working"
Small: I do remember doing shows strictly in black and white, too, so youre right
"I do remember doing shows strictly in black and white, too, so you're right"
Small: At the time of Polaroid - and I did a couple of other commercials just before I stopped doing that stuf
"At the time of Polaroid - and I did a couple of other commercials just before I stopped doing that stuff - at that point I was at the level where they respect you and your opinion and all that sort of thing"
Small: Yeah, we pretty much had a form and a shape by that time - a style - and I think one of the advantages
"Yeah, we pretty much had a form and a shape by that time - a style - and I think one of the advantages of not having any relationship to any other puppeteer was that it gave me a reason to put those together myself for the needs of television"
Small: When I was a kid, I never saw a puppet show. I never played with puppets or had any interest in them
"When I was a kid, I never saw a puppet show. I never played with puppets or had any interest in them"
Small: Well, Detroit Institute is kind of a key - probably the largest permanent collection of puppets in the
"Well, Detroit Institute is kind of a key - probably the largest permanent collection of puppets in the US"
Small: We thought it would be fun to try to design a show that would work well internationally and so that s w
"We thought it would be fun to try to design a show that would work well internationally and so that' s what we're intending to do with Fraggle Rock, and we are indeed now selling it around the world"
Small: NBC was trying to convert all of their local programming to color right away to encourage the sale of t
"NBC was trying to convert all of their local programming to color right away to encourage the sale of the sets, so I barely remember working in black and white, although I do know that I did do it, but there was not a major difference, though"
Small: Lifes like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending
"Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending"
Small: I was very interested in theatre, mostly in stage design. I did a little bit of acting
"I was very interested in theatre, mostly in stage design. I did a little bit of acting"
Small: But with The Dark Crystal, instead of puppetry were trying to go toward a sense of realism - toward a r
"But with The Dark Crystal, instead of puppetry we're trying to go toward a sense of realism - toward a reality of creatures that are actually alive and we're mixing up puppetry and all kinds of other techniques"
Small: At the University of Maryland, my first year I started off planning to major in art because I was inter
"At the University of Maryland, my first year I started off planning to major in art because I was interested in theatre design, stage design or television design"
Small: Yeah, well when I first started working, it was 5 a show it was probably a little higher by the time I
"Yeah, well when I first started working, it was $5 a show; it was probably a little higher by the time I got to my own show, but I remember that they put me under contract at $100 a week, which to me was really an astronomical price"
Small: When The Muppet Show ended, we all sat around and said, what kind of television show would we like to d
"When The Muppet Show ended, we all sat around and said, what kind of television show would we like to do. We felt the need these days are for some quality children's programming"
Small: The most sophisticated people I know - inside they are all children
"The most sophisticated people I know - inside they are all children"
Small: No, theres not much competition between puppeteers in general because everybodys working their own styl
"No, there's not much competition between puppeteers in general because everybody's working their own style"
Small: My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here
"My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here"
Small: Ive never felt any sense of competition with anybody, and were all friends were all good friends
"I've never felt any sense of competition with anybody, and we're all friends; we're all good friends"