Jim Henson Teddy Foster Mrs. Kim Miller Bryson Elementary

Personal Information  Full Name:James (Jimmy) Maury Henson  Born:September 24, 1936  Died:May 16, 1990  Hometown:Greenville, Mississippi  Likes:Collected flashy cars

All About His Childhood  Jim grew up near Leland, MS, which is near the Mississippi River.  Jim liked fishing and swimming with his cousins.  He went horseback riding and played tennis.  He caught turtles and frogs as pets.  He was also a Cub Scout.  He played croquet with his family on Sundays.

More About His Childhood  His mom, Betty, took care of the house.  His dad, Paul, was a scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and studied farm crops and how to improve their growth.  His grandma was nicknamed “Dear” and she listened to Jim and would look at his imaginary monster creature drawings.

All About His Family  Wife:Jane Nebel (Married May 1959)  Children:  Lisa (Born 1960)  Cheryl (Born 1961)  Brian (Born 1963)  John (Born 1965)  Heather (Born 1970) – not pictured

Career/Education  Graduated Northwestern High School  Majored in art at the University of Maryland  Graduated University of Maryland

Timeline of Important Events  1930s – 1940s – Listened to his favorite shows The Shadow, The Green Hornet, and Edgar Bergen and puppet Charlie McCarthy on the radio after school  1949 – Moved to Hyattsville, MD near Washington, D.C.  1951 – Got his first family television because he begged for one  1954 – Went to the local television stations to ask for a job

Timeline of Important Events  1950s – Drew illustrations on his reports & assignments in high school. Art was his best subject.  Mid 1950s – Got a job at WTOP doing The Junior Morning Show puppet show after he made his own French rat, Pierre and cowboys, Longhorn & Shorthorn, puppets  1955 – WRC-TV gave Jim a puppet show called Sam and Friends. It ran 5 minutes twice a night.  None of Jim’s puppets looked real so he called them Muppets (a cross between marionette and puppet)  1956 – Muppets appear on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen

Timeline of Important Events  1960 – Daughter Lisa is born.  1961 – Daughter Cheryl is born.  1963 – Son Brian is born.  1965 – Son John is born.  1965 – Started a written log of his activities in what became known as “The Red Book.” He noted down what had happened up until that point (deemed “Ancient History”) and then recorded anything that he felt was worth recording as single line journal entries until the end of  1966 – Muppets appear on The Ed Sullivan Show  1969 – Muppets join the new kids show Sesame Street and Big Bird is born

Timeline of Important Events  1970 – Daughter Heather is born.  The Muppet Show premiers on TV.  1982 – The Dark Crystal opens in theaters  1990 – Jim dies on May 16 th  1991 – Jim receives a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

Kermit the Frog Using his mom’s old coat, he made Kermit the Frog (who looked like a lizard). The original Kermit the Frog is now in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Influences  His greatest inspiration was Dear, his grandmother.  He got rid of the box stage that most puppeteers used and began using a small TV screen so that he wouldn’t be seen by the TV cameras.  He made puppets out of cloth not wood so that they could move faster and move their mouths.  His brother’s death in a car accident when Jim was 19 really made him want to work hard.