Jim Henson - American puppeteer, actor, director, screenwriter: biography, films and television programs

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Jim Henson is an American puppeteer known to the Russian TV audience from the legendary show. But few people know that he was also a talented director and screenwriter. Now, with the advent of computer animation programs, the name of Jim Henson is forgotten. But if you visit Hollywood, you will see on the Walk of Fame both a star in honor of the puppeteer and his most famous character, Kermit the Frog - and this means a lot in the modern world. So what kind of person was James Maury Henson? You will find a description of his life, as well as his creative path, in this article.

Biography. Career start

Jim Henson was born on September 24, 1936 to agronomists Elizabeth Marcella and Paul. In the family, he was the second child. In addition to him, the parents had an eldest son and four daughters. Jim spent his early childhood in his native Leland (Mississippi), but by the end of the forties the family moved closer to Washington. studying in the lastclass at school, Jim decided to earn some pocket money. And for this purpose, he came to the local television studio to take part in the children's morning program "The Junior Morning Show". And although Jim was there only, roughly speaking, "on errands", the young man was so inspired by puppetry and ventriloquism that he decided to connect his life with this branch of theatrical art. When he managed to enter the University of Maryland, he chose the creation of images as his main discipline. And as an elective, he began to attend sewing and needlework courses. And these last classes became decisive for Henson in his subsequent career. He realized that dolls can be made not only from plastic and wood. Soft, rag creatures turned out to be very plastic. They conveyed emotions well, looked more alive.

Glory arrives

While still studying at the university, Jim Henson was able to get a job in the sketch show "Sam and His Friends". Kermit appeared in it - the prototype of the famous frog. True, at that time the toy was a lizard. To create it, Henson cut out a woman's green coat, stuffed the body with foam rubber, made the head so that it could express emotions, and added ropes to the paws so that they could be set in motion. Kermit the lizard and Sam's other friends literally won the hearts of young viewers. The five-minute regular show has been moved to prime time so kids can watch it before the evening news.

Soft toys that can wrinkle, smile, cry, evoked more reciprocal feelings in the audience than the old oneswooden "ventriloquists", in which only the lower jaw moved. In total, more than eighty episodes of "Sam and Friends" were filmed. For five years of work in the project, the puppeteer has gained enough experience to move on to the realization of his dream - his own puppet series.

The Muppets

Having earned some money by creating commercials, Henson moved to New York (by this time he had already got a wife) and in 1963 founded the Muppets company. Where did such a name come from? This is a simple, and therefore ingenious combination of two English words: marionette (puppet doll) and pappy (puppy). This is how the show appeared, where the main characters were soft, funny and almost living little animals. The star of the program was the notorious Kermit, who turned from a lizard into a frog. Since Jim Henson's wife left the project to take care of the children that were born, he hired Jerry Juhl as a screenwriter and Frank Oz as a puppeteer. The friendship of these three lasted over 27 years and survived after the end of the Muppets show. Some heroes, such as Kermit the Frog, migrated to a new puppet project - Sesame Street. Henson also made quite a few characters for this show. He also voiced one of the dolls - Bertha.

Jim Henson Filmography

The success of these programs allowed the puppeteer to quit advertising and fulfill his dream of acting in a real movie. His debut as an actor is a work in the film "Time Slice" (1965). It cannot be said thatthe role was a failure. But she didn’t bring Henson a springboard for acting either. A much brighter future lay ahead for The Muppets. Soft animals in 1975 broke through to the super-popular program in America "Saturday Night Live". Before that, the seasons "The Muppets and Valentine's Day" and "Sex and Violence" were filmed. Gradually, the dolls began to conquer the adult audience as well, communicating on current topics about politics and life.

Henson's real peak of fame was when the British channel Associated Television began broadcasting the puppeteer and director's own show The Muppets. However, Henson tried his hand at shooting experimental films. His Time of Peace was nominated for an Oscar. His second work "Cube" was appreciated only years later. In 1983, the director received the Grand Prix at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival for The Dark Crystal. His painting "Labyrinth" also received recognition from the audience. It involves both puppets and live actors. Henson was approached to voice Master Yoda in Star Wars, but turned it down, recommending Lucas to be his friend Oz for the part.

Family life

In his final years at the University of Maryland, James Maury Henson fell in love with a student of this institution of higher education - Jane Niebel, who also worked in the Sam and Friends project. The couple got married and continued to cooperate in the creation of puppet shows. Jane gave birth to her husband from 1960 to 1970. five children: Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John and Heather. Sons and daughters more or lessdegree participated in the work of parents. As James Henson put it, children should play with dolls. But the work gradually took the director away from the family. In 1986, Jane Kniebel filed for divorce, citing the fact that she already feels like a single woman.

Posthumous glory

In mid-May 1990, Jim Henson was admitted to a New York hospital with a diagnosis of streptococcal infection. As stated by Terry Gilliam in his book "Death Memoirs", the creator of the Muppets triggered the disease because he refused treatment due to religious reasons (he was an adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses denomination). Henson died the next day, May 16, from multiple organ failure. He was 53 years old. In 1991, a star was unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - Jim Henson … and Kermit the Frog.