Jim Henson
Teddy FosterMrs. 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 1988.
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 16th
1991 – Jim receives a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
Kermit the FrogUsing 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.