Jim Henson may have created some of the most wholesome characters in television history, but his real-life love story was less than picture-perfect.<\/p>\n
Biographer Brian Jay Jones revealed on\u00a0\u201cNostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia\u201d\u00a0that the creative demands of bringing The Muppets to life placed a strain on Henson\u2019s marriage to his longtime wife and professional partner, Jane Henson. They ultimately opted for an amicable split \u2014 one that Jones described as \u201ca handshake of a separation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJim and Jane were never divorced, and they had what they both called, what Jane delightfully called, a handshake of a separation,\u201d said Jones on the podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of his life, they were still working that out, and he died before they were officially divorced. But when he was sick at the very end of his life, the first person he called when he just didn\u2019t know what to do was her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had throughout their life, this really critical relationship, this sort of loving respect,\u201d Jones, the author of\u00a0\u201cJim Henson: The Biography,\u201d\u00a0shared. \u201cEven if they were at odds, they just never stopped listening to each other and valuing each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the podcast, Henson met Jane at the University of Maryland, where they were both studying puppetry. The pair were immediately drawn to each other.<\/p>\n
Jane Henson, wife of Jim Henson and co-founder of the Muppets, signs donation documents as she donates characters from Henson\u2019s \u201cSam and Friends,\u201d including the original Kermit the Frog, during a donation ceremony at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History in Washington on Aug. 25, 2010. UPI<\/p>\n
\u201cBoy, you watch her talk about him, and even 25 years later, she lights up remembering him just entering the room for the first time,\u201d said Jones. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t one of those, \u2018I\u2019m going to marry that man,\u2019 but just what a presence he had and how he absolutely knew what he was doing and, as she said, took over the classroom. She really knew what she was doing, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple co-founded Muppets Inc. in 1958 and married a year later. Between 1960 and 1970, they welcomed five children. However,\u00a0their union\u00a0slowly began to unravel.<\/p>\n
Jones said Jane found herself \u201csort of stranded out in the suburbs\u201d while her husband went into the city every day \u201cto play with the guys on The Muppets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe could have been one of those performers,\u201d Jones pointed out. \u201cShe was that good. She was really important to his story.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a growing family, Jane also found herself expected to take care of their children while Henson focused on their booming business. Jane, a talent in her own right and a key collaborator in Henson\u2019s creative process, was disappointed.<\/p>\n
American puppeteer and filmmaker Jim Henson (1936-1990) with some of the Muppet cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cJane Henson is the person who taught Frank Oz really how to lip-sync and perform a puppet,\u201d said Jones. \u201cSo, I mean, come on. Jane\u2019s really, really good, and he hires her as his first partner to work with him on the \u2018Sam and Friends\u2019 TV show that he\u2019s doing there for the local NBC station.\u201d<\/p>\n
And there were other issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cJim was not always, in fact, not usually faithful to his own wife,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n
The marriage didn\u2019t last, but the admiration they shared for each other endured. Jones noted Jane was the first to learn of Henson\u2019s failing health in the weeks before his death in 1990. The beloved puppeteer was 53.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was with him for his entire life,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n
Jones was in touch with the\u00a0Henson family, who have always been fiercely protective of the patriarch\u2019s legacy, while writing his book. Jane, who was supportive of telling Henson\u2019s story, never got to see the final version. She died in 2013 at age 78.<\/p>\n
Henson poses with Kermit the Frog. AP<\/p>\n
In 2018, Henson\u2019s son Brian Henson spoke to\u00a0Closer Weekly\u00a0about his father\u2019s relentless work habits.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad was a workaholic,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cI have four siblings, and for us to see our father, we would spend a lot of time hanging out in his studios and his workshop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the now-62-year-old insisted he wasn\u2019t bitter. Instead, the puppeteer noted he was grateful to have a deeply influential role model as a parent.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always had so many ideas he felt like he needed to do,\u201d said Brian. \u201cMy dad would always say, \u2018If something is not inspiring, then do something that is.\u2019 He was an inspiration to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI made the first Muppet penguin,\u201d he shared. \u201cAll the kids in my family would make Muppets for fun. Some were terrible, and some my dad would go, \u2018Oh, we\u2019ll use this one!\u2019 When [Miss Piggy puppeteer] Frank Oz used my penguin in one of \u2018The Muppet Show\u2019s\u2019 musical numbers, I was so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henson met Jane at the University of Maryland, where they were both studying puppetry. <\/p>\n
Brian admitted to the outlet that assuming control of Henson\u2019s company after his father\u2019s death was initially challenging. However, he was determined to keep his father\u2019s dreams alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe inspired people to realize their weird and wonderful ideas,\u201d Brian told the outlet. \u201cHe came up with an original idea and presented it to the world, which embraced it because it was sweet and positive. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there. That\u2019s what he was doing every minute he was alive. And he had fun doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2017, Henson\u2019s daughter, Heather Henson, told Fox News Digital she didn\u2019t always think she would follow in her famous family\u2019s footsteps.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I grew up around the puppets, I guess there was a part of me that wanted to rebel,\u201d she said at the time. \u201cI wanted to do something a little different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heather also revealed Henson found joy in sharing his love of puppets with\u00a0his children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lived in England at one time, and I just remember as a kid being brought to these interesting landscapes and places where my dad found inspiration,\u201d she said. \u201cI remember going to his laboratory. I saw a lot of things that were happening in nature. Those were formative years for me, watching his research and development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henson\u2019s youngest child said she understands why his work is still adored by many.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to the Henson brand, it really comes down to how well the puppets are made,\u201d she said. \u201cThe puppets are really, really beautiful, and they\u2019re coming from the Henson shop. My father knew very well the power of puppetry to tell a story and how people could engage and connect to those characters. And he did a beautiful job with that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jim Henson may have created some of the most wholesome characters in television history, but his real-life love…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":626699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[185,569,572,172,171,195893,175788,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-626698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-celebrity-couples","10":"tag-celebrity-marriages","11":"tag-celebrity-news","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-muppets","14":"tag-the-muppets","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116159274476050008","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}