Jim Henson began his television career
in 1954 as a puppeteer on a local program in Washington D.C. The following
year, he created Sam and Friends, a nightly five-minute live-broadcast
which won a local Emmy in 1959 and introduced Kermit. During the sixties,
Henson and the Muppets made regular guest appearances on The Jimmy Dean
Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Today Show and other variety programs.
In 1969, Children's Television Workshop's new show, Sesame Street, introduced
a new cast of Henson characters to the nation's children. In the 24 years
since its inception, Sesame Street has been seen in 120 countries and produced
in dozens of languages. In 1976, Henson introduced The Muppet Show. The
show was a phenomenal success, reaching an estimated 235 million viewers
each week in more than 100 countries and winning three Emmys and many other
awards during its five-year run. In 1979, Henson brought the Muppets
to the big screen in the feature film The Muppet Movie, followed in 1981
by The Great Muppet Caper (Henson's directorial debut) and in 1984 The
Muppets Take Manhattan. The fantasy films -- The Dark Crystal (1982), co-directed
with Frank Oz, and Labyrinth (1986), directed by Henson -- introduced a
host of new characters to the screen. The Witches, a feature film based
on the Roald Dahl children's classic, executive produced by Henson and
directed by Nicholas Roeg, was released in 1990 to wide critical acclaim.
Henson also directed a short 3-D film/attraction, Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision
3D, which opened in 1991 in its custom-made theater at Walt Disney World's
Disney/MGM Studios Theme Park. It has been hailed by many as the finest
example of 3-D movie making ever produced. During these years, Henson
continued his innovative work in television. His first animated series,
Muppet Babies, aired for eight seasons on CBS Television and won four consecutive
Emmys for Outstanding Animated Program (1984-1988). Muppet Babies is currently
seen on Nickelodeon and airs internationally in more than 50 countries. Jim
Henson's award-winning live action puppet series, Fraggle Rock, HBO's first
original children's program, is now shown on cable network TNT and broadcast
internationally in more than 40 countries, including the Soviet Union and
Japan. The Storyteller, an Emmy Award-winning contemporary anthology of
traditional folktales, premiered on NBC in 1987. The Jim Henson Hour, an
innovative family entertainment series, aired on NBC in 1989 to critical
acclaim, winning Henson an Emmy for Outstanding Directing. In 1991, Dinosaurs,
a television series originally conceived by Henson, premiered on ABC. Jim
Henson's positive view of life is seen in every aspect of his work. His
creativity and imagination enabled him to reach audiences of every age
around the globe with entertainment that also conveys inspirational values.
Jim Henson died on May 16, 1990. The worldwide outpouring of love and expression
of the importance of his work following his passing is a tribute to his
magnificent and continuing legacy.