Directing
Sep 23, 1936
Greenville, Mississippi, USA
Jim Henson
Directing
Biography
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.
Feature Films (145)
The King of Eight is a 1970 short film produced for Sesame Street by Jim Henson, using stop-motion animation. The 70-second short film focuses on the title character, the jovial king (voiced by Jim Henson) of a land where everything exists in denominations of the number eight.
The King of Eight
The Muppets gather to watch their newly-finished big-budget rich-and-famous feature film: a talent agent persuades Kermit the Frog to leave the swamp to pursue a career in Hollywood. On his way there, he meets a bear, a pig, a whatever (his future Muppet crew), and some special celebrity guest stars, while being chased by the desperate owner of a frog-leg restaurant!
The Muppet Movie
Ed Okin used to have a boring life. He used to have trouble getting to sleep. Then one night, he met Diana. Now, Ed's having trouble staying alive.
Into the Night
Big Bird and his pals are making musical mayhem as they sing the goofiest, nuttiest, silliest songs ever. Join in with Sesame Street favorites Oscar, Ernie, the Count, and more as they tickle your funny bone with tunes like, "Everything in the Wrong Place Ball," "Mary Had a Bicycle," and more. James Taylor drops by to sing "Jellyman Kelly," and Jeremy Irons, Jane Curtin, and Paul Simon lead an all-star cast of celebrities in the showstopper, "Put Down the Duckie." Songs: The Honker-Duckie-Dinger Jamboree; Ladybug Picnic; Jellyman Kelly; Wavin' Goodbye to You with My Heart; Old MacDonald Cantata; Everything in the Wrong Place Ball; One Banana; Calcutta Joe; Mary Had a Bicycle; Ten Tiny Turtles on the Telephone; Put Down the Duckie.
Sesame Street: Sing Yourself Silly!
Television & Series (29)
On a special inner city street, the inhabitants—human and muppet—teach preschoolers basic educational and social concepts using comedy, cartoons, games, and songs.
Sesame Street
The Fraggles are a fun-loving community of creatures who live in a subterranean fantasy land where they love to play, sing and dance their cares away, sharing their world with the tiny Doozers and the giant Gorgs. The series teaches empathy and tolerance and encourages children to understand people different from themselves.
Fraggle Rock
The Fraggles are a fun-loving community of creatures who live in a subterranean fantasy land where they love to play, sing and dance their cares away, sharing their world with the tiny Doozers and the giant Gorgs. The series teaches empathy and tolerance and encourages children to understand people different from themselves.
Fraggle Rock
The Fraggles are a fun-loving community of creatures who live in a subterranean fantasy land where they love to play, sing and dance their cares away, sharing their world with the tiny Doozers and the giant Gorgs. The series teaches empathy and tolerance and encourages children to understand people different from themselves.
Fraggle Rock
Sam and Friends was an early live-action/puppet television show created by puppeteer Jim Henson and his eventual wife Jane. It was taped and aired locally in Washington, D.C. on WRC-TV in black-and-white, and later, color on weekdays from May 9, 1955 to December 15, 1961.
