Jane Henson

Jane Henson (née Nebel; June 16, 1934 — April 2, 2013) was an artist and puppeteer who helped establish the Muppets as a puppet act withJim Henson as his first performing partner in the 1950s. They later married on May 28, 1959^[1] and had five children:Lisa,Cheryl,Brian,John, andHeather Henson.

Nebel and Henson met in a puppetry course at theUniversity of Maryland, College Park, where they were both undergraduates. At the time, Nebel was a senior majoring in art education and Henson was a freshman studying to become a commercial artist.^[2] She later attended the Catholic University of America inWashington, D.C. where she practiced pottery, wood carving, oil painting, and sculpture while working on her Masters degree in Fine Arts.^[3]

Though Jane Henson was one of Jim Henson's first puppeteering partners, she seldom supplied voices.^[4] She sometimes did voices onSam and Friends, includingBernice on a few occasions, but they were so rare that she didn't remember doing them when talking about the subject.^[5] Another exception was in theSesame Street song "Women Can Be." She performed considerably less after the birth of the couple's second child, Cheryl.^[6] However, she would occasionally serve as a background performer in various projects afterwards, with her last known credited performance occurring inepisode 103 ofThe Muppet Show while her last known performance wasYorick's cameo inThe Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years^[7]. While no longer serving as onscreen performer, she would continue to overseeMuppeteer workshops for many years.

Jim and Jane Henson separated in 1986, but remained close until Jim's death in 1990.

In recent years, Jane Henson was a part ofthe Jim Henson Legacy Board of Directors. As president of The Jane Henson Foundation, she has donated toSesame Workshop, provided funding to theJim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit, and The Carter Center founded byU.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Jane passed away on April 2, 2013. The filmMuppets Most Wanted was dedicated to her andJerry Nelson.

Performing credits[]

• Variouscommercials
• Afternoon
• Sam and Friends
• Tonight (1956 appearance)
• The Today Show appearances
• Tales of the Tinkerdee
• Sesame Street (uncredited on the show itself, but many video compilations credit her as a performer)
• Julie on Sesame Street
• The Muppets Valentine Show
• The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
• The Muppet Show (episodes 101 [credited inpilot version only] and103)
• The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years

Additional credits[]

• The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (historian)
• Jane Henson cameos

Sources[]

External links[]

• Henson.com biography
• Memorial page at Henson.com (archived)