Jane Henson receives a tribute at the 1990 homecoming game from then-university President Brit Kirwan. Henson met her husband, Jim, at this university and created the Muppets with him.
They were more than just puppets. They were the Muppets, and they touched the lives of children across the country for decades.
Now, fans are mourning the death of one-half of the team behind the iconic characters.
Jane Nebel Henson, university alumna and philanthropist, died in her Connecticut home Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. She was 78.
Jane and Jim Henson, also a university alumnus, were the creative team behind the Muppets, pioneering not only a style of puppetry — a soft hybrid doll combining the features of a standard marionette and a ventriloquism dummy — but also family television programming. From Sesame Street to The Muppet Show, the Henson creations became household names.
Jane Henson was born in New York City in 1934 to Winifred and Adalbert Nebel, an astrologer.
In 1951, she enrolled at this university, where she studied fine arts education. She would later meet Jim Henson, who was two years her junior, in a puppetry class.
What bonded them together was “a unique approach to puppetry that is joyful and sophisticated,” a release from The Jim Henson Co. stated. When local NBC affiliate WRC-TV asked Jim Henson to produce five-minute segments to air twice a day, he took Jane with him.
Called Sam and Friends, the show challenged the traditional structure of puppet shows, rejecting the use of puppet stages. There was music, witty dialogue and the roots of iconic characters such as Kermit the Frog.
As the segment began to draw attention, the two began to make appearances on national television. Most notably, producers at The Tonight Show starring Steve Allen asked Jim and Jane to perform.
Jane Henson graduated from this university in 1955. She went on to study fine arts at Catholic University but still played an active role as Jim’s partner in Muppetry, and life, after they married in 1959. The pair had five children, who currently own most of The Jim Henson Co. and run that and the couple’s other enterprises.
The couple separated in 1986, but Jane continued as Jim’s business partner until his death in 1990.
She had a sharp eye for performer talent, recruiting only the finest puppeteers to handle Kermit, Miss Piggy and the rest of the gang.
But as involved as she was, she was modest and humble.
“Collaboration is such a strong word in the Muppet community, yet I don’t know how much I was a part of that collaboration,” she said at a Henson Co. event in 2012, adding it was Jim who was her inspiration.
Daughter Cheryl Henson, who serves as president of the Jim Henson Foundation, told The New York Times that Jane was “the great maza shelaza of the Muppets,” a Henson family term for the “mother of all Muppets.”
The couple’s work expanded far beyond Big Bird and Kermit. Their charity work was just as central to them as their franchises, and Jane was active in all of it.
She served on the board for The Jim Henson Foundation, co-founded the National Puppetry Conference and founded the Jane Henson Foundation, along with The Jim Henson Legacy, all organizations committed to philanthropic work through puppetry and art.
As part of her legacy at this university, she established The Jim Henson Fund for Puppetry in 1996 and The Henson Endowment for Performing Arts in 2002. In 2005, she also oversaw the donation of The Jim Henson Works, a large collection of videos covering more than 35 years of the Henson family’s work in film and television.
The Henson children were not available for comment, but Arthur Novell, a trustee of The Jim Henson Legacy, said the entire Henson enterprise is mourning the loss of its founder.
“She was our inspiration, our guiding light,” said Novell. “Working with Jane has been a great pleasure and privilege, and it is a great loss to us all.”
Henson’s survivors include her children, Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John and Heather, as well seven grandchildren and one step-grandchild.
Donations in Henson’s honor can be sent to the Center for Puppetry Arts, The Jim Henson Foundation or The Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Theater Center, according to the Henson Co. website.
