Jane Henson
Jane Ann Henson born, Fog ( born June 16, 1934 in St. Albans, Queens, New York City; † April 2, 2013 in Greenwich, Connecticut ) was an American puppeteer. With her husband, Jim Henson, she created the characters who later became world famous by The Muppet Show.
Life and work
Jane Henson was born as the daughter of Adalbert astrologers fog ( artist name Dal Lee ) and his wife Winifred Johnson fog in New York's St. Albans. There she grew up with her older brothers and sisters Margaret and Brereton.
While studying Fine Arts at the University of Maryland she met in 1954 in a puppetry class two years younger than Jim Henson know. When Jim Henson from the station WRC- TV ( NBC4 ) in Washington, DC got an offer for your own puppet theater show, he asked her for her work as a puppeteer and designer.
Together they produced the five-minute broadcast Sam and Friends, which aired two times a day before The Huntley - Brinkley Report, and The Tonight Show with Steve Allen. This forerunner of the Muppet Show where, among other things, a figure similar starred Kermit the Frog, soon gained growing popularity among television viewers and made guest appearances on various variety shows. Jane Henson created along with Jim Henson Kermit next more later dolls like Miss Piggy. She had significant influence on the development of the Muppet Show and is often referred to in the media as the mother of the Muppets.
1955 Henson graduated from their studies and continued working at WRC- TV. They also attended the Catholic University of America in Washington and continued her art studies. In May 1959 she married Jim Henson at her parents' house in Salisbury. From the following year the couple got within five years, two daughters and two sons, followed in 1970 another daughter. Her children include inter alia the award-winning television producer, director and puppeteer Brian Henson ( born 1963 ). While Jane Henson raised them the children, they no longer worked as a puppeteer, but was responsible for hiring new employees and made an appearance on Sesame Street.
After the family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, Henson worked as an assistant in art class at the Mead School for Human Development. They also participated for the Jim Henson Company on the implementation of various projects such as the traveling exhibition The Art of The Muppets, The Muppet Show on Tour and live stage shows of Sesame Street. She was awarded to American puppeteer on the board, which was founded in 1982 Jim Henson Foundation, the scholarships. She has worked with various theater and puppetry organizations, including the Eugene O'Neill Theater Cente in Waterford, where she co-founded The National Puppetry Conference and promoted.
In 1986, Henson parted and her husband, who died four years later. In 1992, Henson The Jim Henson Legacy, to manage her husband's artistic heritage and preserve it.
Jane Henson died 78 years at her home in Connecticut after a lengthy battle with cancer.