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114-650: James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer , animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets . Henson was also well known for creating Fraggle Rock (1983–1987) and as the director of The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). Born in Greenville, Mississippi , and raised in both Leland, Mississippi , and University Park, Maryland , Henson began developing puppets in high school. He created Sam and Friends (1955–1961),

228-633: A Bachelor of Science degree in home economics . Henson began working at WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV) in the late spring of 1954, at age 17, hired to "manipulate marionettes" on a Saturday morning children's show called The Junior Morning Show , until the show was cancelled only three weeks later. This first break into the Television industry was short-lived, but his talent landed him and his puppets an opportunity to continue working at WTOP-TV, lip-syncing on Roy Meachum's Saturday show. Henson's employment at WTOP-TV lasted only until August, when Saturday

342-518: A cannon, struck in the head with a hammer or baseball bat, or have a pie thrown in his face. The Jim Henson Company has posted a short selection of them. Henson later explained, "Till then, advertising agencies believed that the hard sell was the only way to get their message over on television. We took a very different approach. We tried to sell things by making people laugh." The first seven-second commercials for Wilkins were an immediate hit and were later remade for other local coffee companies throughout

456-628: A dining hall. Most residence halls have AC, but some do not. These non-AC halls are Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Chestertown, Ellicott, Hagerstown, Wicomico, and Worcester. South Campus includes the North Hill Community, made up of nine Georgian-style halls and Prince Frederick Hall (which opened in 2014) immediately west of McKeldin Mall ; South Hill Community, made up of fourteen small residence halls for upper-level students; Leonardtown Community, which offers apartment-style housing; and

570-477: A false but widespread rumor that Henson had died of AIDS — a rumor that was swiftly and directly refuted by Gelmont. Frank Oz believed the stress of negotiating with Disney contributed to Henson's death, stating in a 2021 interview: "The Disney deal is probably what killed Jim. It made him sick." His remains were cremated , and in 1992, his ashes were scattered near Taos, New Mexico . News of Henson's death spread quickly and admirers of his work responded from around

684-474: A hospital. Two hours later, Henson agreed to be taken by taxi to the emergency room at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan . Shortly after admission, he stopped breathing and was rushed into the intensive care unit. X-ray images of his chest revealed multiple abscesses in both of his lungs as a result of a previous Streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat) bacterial infection he had apparently had for

798-517: A loaf. In 1969, television producer Joan Ganz Cooney and her staff at the Children's Television Workshop were impressed by the quality and creativity of the Henson-led team, so they asked Henson and staff to work full-time on Sesame Street , a children's program for public television that premiered on National Educational Television on November 10, 1969. Part of the show was set aside for

912-478: A lot more of my time on the creative side of things" with Disney handling business matters. By 1990, he had completed production on the television special The Muppets at Walt Disney World and the Disney-MGM Studios attraction Muppet*Vision 3D and he was developing film ideas and a television series entitled Muppet High . Henson and fellow puppeteer Jane Nebel were married on May 28, 1959, in

1026-583: A medley of Henson's favorite songs in their characters' voices, ending with a performance of "Just One Person" while performing their Muppets. In accordance with Henson's wishes, no one in attendance wore black, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band finished the service by performing " When the Saints Go Marching In ". The funeral was described by Life as "an epic and almost unbearably moving event". The Jim Henson Company and

1140-434: A pair of jeans forming the sleeve for the puppeteer's arm. Though Henson told people that "Muppet" was a portmanteau of " marionette " and " Puppet ", many early Muppets were actually hand puppets , rod puppets , or some combination of the two. Direct control over the puppet's mouth, in combination with the softer construction materials, allowed the puppeteer to express a wider range of emotions and to more accurately move

1254-434: A part of it, but he ultimately concluded that "what we were trying to do and what his writers could write for it never gelled". The SNL writers were not comfortable writing for the characters, and they frequently disparaged Henson's creations. Michael O'Donoghue quipped, "I won't write for felt." Henson began developing a Broadway show and a weekly television series both featuring the Muppets. The American networks rejected

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1368-748: A performing partnership that lasted until Henson's death; their teamwork is particularly evident in their portrayals of Bert and Ernie , Kermit and Miss Piggy , and Kermit and Fozzie Bear . In New York City, Henson formed a partnership with Bernie Brillstein , who managed Henson's career until the puppeteer's death. In the years that followed, more performers joined Henson's team, including Jerry Nelson , Richard Hunt , Dave Goelz , Steve Whitmire , Fran Brill , and Kevin Clash . In 1964 he and his family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut , where they lived until 1971, when they moved to Bedford, New York . Henson's talk show appearances culminated when he devised Rowlf ,

1482-436: A piano-playing anthropomorphic dog that became the first Muppet to make regular appearances on The Jimmy Dean Show . Henson was so grateful for this break that he offered Jimmy Dean a 40-percent interest in his production company, but Dean declined, stating that Henson deserved all the rewards for his own work, a decision of conscience that Dean never regretted. From 1963 to 1966, Henson began exploring filmmaking and produced

1596-459: A prize in physics for his contributions to laser cooling . In 2005, Thomas Schelling was awarded the prize in economics for his contributions to game theory . In 2006, John C. Mather was awarded the prize in physics alongside George Smoot for their work in the discovery of blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation . In addition, two University of Maryland alumni are Nobel Prize laureates; Herbert Hauptman won

1710-407: A puppeteer can be physically demanding. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by their own hands placed inside the puppet or holding it externally or any other part of the body- such as the legs. Some puppet styles require two or more puppeteers to work together to create a single puppet character. The puppeteer's role is to manipulate

1824-739: A puppeteer. Very often, though, the puppeteer assumes the joint roles of puppet-maker, director , designer , writer and performer . In this case a puppeteer is a more complete theatre practitioner than is the case with other theatre forms, in which one person writes a play, another person directs it, and then actors perform the lines and gestures. Puppetry is a complex medium sometimes consisting of live performance, sometimes contributing to stop frame puppet animation, and film where performances might be technically processed as motion capture, CGI or as virtual puppetry. University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park ( University of Maryland , UMD , or simply Maryland )

1938-849: A series of experimental films. His nine-minute experimental film Time Piece was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1965. He produced The Cube in 1969. Around this time, he wrote the first drafts of a live-action movie script with Jerry Juhl which became Tale of Sand . The script remained in the Henson Company archives until it was adapted in the 2012 graphic novel Jim Henson's Tale of Sand . During this time, Henson continued to work with various companies who sought out his Muppets for advertising purposes. Among his clients were Wilson Meats , Royal Crown Cola , Claussen's Bread, La Choy , and Frito-Lay , which featured an early version of his character Cookie Monster to promote their Munchos line of potato snacks. Like

2052-507: A series of funny, colorful puppet characters living on Sesame Street, including Grover , Cookie Monster , Bert and Ernie , Oscar the Grouch , and Big Bird . Henson performed the characters of Ernie, game-show host Guy Smiley , and Kermit, who appeared as a roving television news reporter. Henson's Muppets initially appeared separately from the realistic segments on the Street, but the show

2166-525: A short-form comedy television program on WRC-TV , while he was a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park , in collaboration with fellow student Jane Nebel . Henson and Nebel co-founded Muppets, Inc. – now The Jim Henson Company – in 1958, and married less than a year later in 1959. Henson graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in home economics. In 1969, Henson joined

2280-464: A small ceremony at Jane's family home. They had five children: Lisa (b. 1960), Cheryl (b. 1961), Brian (b. 1963), John (1965–2014), and Heather Henson (b. 1970). Henson and his wife separated in 1986, although they remained close for the rest of his life. Jane said that Henson was so involved with his work that he had very little time to spend with her or their children. His children began working with Muppets at an early age, partly because "one of

2394-406: A song that he had debuted on The Muppet Show , as each member of the congregation waved a brightly colored foam butterfly attached to a puppet performer's rod. Later, Big Bird (performed by Caroll Spinney ) walked onto the stage and sang Kermit's signature song " Bein' Green " while fighting back tears. Dave Goelz , Frank Oz, Kevin Clash , Steve Whitmire , Jerry Nelson , and Richard Hunt sang

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2508-409: A time out of a cast of several. Much work is produced without any speech at all with all the emphasis on movement. In a shadow play , only the shadows of the puppet are seen on a screen positioned between the puppets and the audience. The relationship between the puppeteer and the puppet-maker is similar to that between an actor and a playwright , in cases where a puppet-maker designs a puppet for

2622-851: A variety of prominent characters, notably Miss Piggy , Gonzo the Great , and Fozzie Bear , in addition to its large cast of supporting characters such as the Muppet musicians Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem with their chaotic drummer Animal . Henson's teammates sometimes compared his role to that of Kermit: a shy, gentle boss with "a whim of steel" who ran things like "an explosion in a mattress factory." Caroll Spinney , who performed as Big Bird , remembered that Henson would never say he did not like something. "He would just go 'Hmm.' ... And if he liked it, he would say, 'Lovely!'" Henson recognized Kermit as an alter ego, though he thought that Kermit

2736-474: Is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In FY 2020, the university spent about 1.103 billion dollars in total R&D expenditures, ranking it 16th in the nation. On October 14, 2004, the university added 150 acres (61 ha) in an attempt to create the largest research park inside the Washington, D.C. Capital Beltway , formerly known as "M Square" and now known as

2850-434: Is 44th (tie) in "National Universities" and 17th in "Top Public Schools". The Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked Maryland as 43rd in the world in 2015. The 2017–2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed Maryland 69th worldwide. The 2016/17 QS World University Rankings ranked Maryland 131st worldwide. The university was ranked among Peace Corps ' 25 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges for

2964-621: Is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland , United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland . UMD is the largest university in both the state and the Washington metropolitan area . Its 12 schools and colleges offer over 200 degree-granting programs, including 113 undergraduate majors, 107 master's programs, and 83 doctoral programs . UMD

3078-605: Is a member of the Association of American Universities and competes in intercollegiate athletics as a member of the Big Ten Conference . The University of Maryland's proximity to Washington, D.C. has resulted in many research partnerships with the federal government ; faculty receive research funding and institutional support from many agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health , NASA ,

3192-547: Is adjacent to a stop on the MARC Camden line, a commuter rail line which runs from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The stop is also serviced by busses from Shuttle–UM, MTA , WMATA , and TheBus . In 2011, the university signed on to the state's Purple Line program. The Purple Line route will have five stops on and around the university's campus: M Square, the College Park Metro station, the main entrance to

3306-860: Is captured and presented in video media, and he won fame for his characters – particularly Kermit the Frog , Rowlf the Dog , and the characters on Sesame Street . During the later years of his life, he founded the Jim Henson Foundation and Jim Henson's Creature Shop . He won the Emmy Award twice for his involvement in The StoryTeller (1987–1988) and The Jim Henson Hour (1989). Henson died in New York City in 1990 from toxic shock syndrome caused by Streptococcus pyogenes . At

3420-634: Is held at the Academy Film Archive . In 2019, the YouTube channel Defunctland released a six-part miniseries on the life and legacy of Jim Henson. A biopic film based on Henson's life, known as Muppet Man , has been in development at Walt Disney Pictures and The Jim Henson Company since 2010. In April 2021, it was reported that Michael Mitnick was hired to rewrite the screenplay, previously written by Aaron and Jordan Kandell . Lisa Henson will serve as producer. In March 2022, it

3534-544: Is home to the Memorial Chapel and the Campus Farms. Regents Drive crosses Campus Drive at the campus hallmark, "M" Circle , which is a traffic circle with a large "M" formed by flowers in its center. The northeast quadrant of campus, formed by Campus and Regent Drives, is home to many of natural sciences and applied sciences departments. The Rossborough Inn , which, was built during the years 1798 to 1812,

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3648-576: Is made up of Cambridge Community (which consists of five residence halls and houses the College Park Scholars program), Denton Community (which consists of three halls), Oakland Community (which consists of one hall), Ellicott Community (consisting of three halls), and the Courtyards, a garden-style apartment community in north campus consisting of seven buildings. The Heritage community, completed in 2024, features two residence halls and

3762-528: Is ranked as a Top Producing Institution of Fulbright U.S. Students and Scholars for the 2017–2018 academic year by the United States Department of State 's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs . In 2017, the University of Maryland was ranked among the top 50 universities in the 2018 Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report based on its high academic research performance and global reputation. In 2021,

3876-465: Is rated "most selective" by U.S. News & World Report . For the Class of 2026 (enrolled fall 2022), Maryland received 56,766 applications and accepted 19,451 (34.3%). Of those accepted, 4,742 enrolled, a yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 24.4%. Maryland's freshman retention rate is 95.5%, with 88.3% going on to graduate within six years. Of

3990-686: Is the first building on campus named in honor of Indigenous people. The third dining hall, South Campus Dining Hall, can be found just south of McKeldin Library The university is accessible through the three airports in the greater Washington metropolitan area : Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , Washington Dulles International Airport , and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport . A small public airport in College Park, College Park Airport , lies nearly adjacent to campus, but operations are limited. This airport

4104-479: Is the oldest building on campus (and is older than the university itself). There are five regularly used entrances to campus; the main entrance, off of Baltimore Avenue and onto Campus Drive, is referred to as North Gate and features the Gatehouse, an ornate gateway honoring the university's founders. The 140-acre (57 ha), 18-hole University of Maryland Golf Course sits at the northern edge of campus, as does

4218-465: Is the world's oldest continually operating airport and the site of many significant aviation firsts. A free shuttle service, known as Shuttle–UM , is available for UMD students, faculty, staff, and some residents of College Park and Greenbelt. The university is served by an off-campus stop on the Washington Metro 's Green Line called College Park – University of Maryland . This stop

4332-644: The Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song . The Henson-directed The Great Muppet Caper (1981) followed, and Henson decided to end the Muppet Show to concentrate on making films, though the Muppet characters continued to appear in TV movies and specials. Henson also aided others in their work. During development on The Empire Strikes Back (1980), George Lucas asked him to aid make-up artist Stuart Freeborn in

4446-915: The Anacostia Tributary Trails system, cuts through campus, as does the Paint Branch stream, a tributary of the Northeast Branch Anacostia River . The university's first Leed Gold building, Knight Hall, opened in April 2010 as the new home for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism . In 2021, President Pines pledged that the University of Maryland would achieve carbon neutrality by Earth Day 2025. The University of Maryland offers 127 undergraduate degrees and 112 graduate degrees in thirteen colleges and schools: Admission to Maryland

4560-484: The Jim Henson Foundation continued after his death, producing new series and specials. Jim Henson's Creature Shop also continues to create characters and special effects for both Henson-related and outside projects. Steve Whitmire , who had joined the Muppets cast in 1978, began performing Kermit the Frog six months after Henson's death. He was dismissed from the cast in October 2016, and Matt Vogel succeeded him in

4674-534: The National Guard . In a massive restructuring of the state's higher education system in 1988, the school was designated as the flagship campus of the newly formed University of Maryland System (later changed to the University System of Maryland in 1997). It was formally named the University of Maryland, College Park. All five campuses in the former network were designated distinct campuses in

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4788-820: The National Institute of Standards and Technology , the Food and Drug Administration , the National Security Agency , and the Department of Homeland Security . It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and has been labeled a " Public Ivy ". According to the National Science Foundation , the university spent a combined $ 1.14 billion on research and development in 2021, ranking it 17th among American universities. On March 6, 1856,

4902-606: The Wolf Prize in 1980 (together with Kenneth G. Wilson and Leo Kadanoff ) and the IUPAP Boltzmann Medal in 1983. James A. Yorke , a distinguished university professor of mathematics and physics and chair of the mathematics department, won the 2003 Japan Prize for his work in chaotic systems . In 2013, professor of physics Sylvester James Gates was awarded the National Medal of Science . UMD

5016-427: The "Discovery District." Many of the faculty members have funding from federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation , the National Institutes of Health , NASA , the Department of Homeland Security , the National Institute of Standards and Technology , and the National Security Agency . The Space Systems Laboratory researches human-robotic interaction for astronautics applications and includes

5130-580: The 1960s. Among the most popular of Henson's commercials was a series for the local Wilkins Coffee company in Washington, D.C. , created for a campaign managed by advertising manager Helen Ver Standig . Most of the Wilkins advertisements followed a similar formula: two Muppets, in this case named Wilkins and Wontkins (usually both voiced by Henson), would appear. Wilkins would extol the product while Wontkins would express his hatred for it, prompting physical retaliation from Wilkins; Wontkins might be shot with

5244-471: The 1985 prize in chemistry, and Raymond Davis Jr. won the 2002 prize in physics. The university has many notable academics. Professor of mathematics, Sergei Novikov won the Fields Medal in 1970, followed by alumnus Charles Fefferman in 1978. Alumnus George Dantzig won the 1975 National Medal of Science for his work in the field of linear programming. Professor of physics Michael Fisher won

5358-469: The 2020–2021 academic year, 69 freshman students were National Merit Scholars . In 2020, the university announced it was joining the Common App . Beginning with the 2017-18 admissions cycle, the University of Maryland uses the application provided by The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success. In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings of universities, the University of Maryland

5472-502: The 34% of the incoming freshman class who submitted SAT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1340–1490. Of the 9% of enrolled freshmen in 2021 who submitted ACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 30 and 34. The University of Maryland, College Park is a college sponsor of the National Merit Scholarship Program and sponsored 58 Merit Scholarship awards in 2020. In

5586-593: The 34th president of the university in 2020. Pines was a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the university before becoming president. In 2021, the university announced it had raised $ 1.5 billion in donations since 2018. In April of 2024, UMD students joined other campuses across the United States in protests against the Israel–Hamas war . Students called attention to the genocide in Palestine and for

5700-483: The Creature Shop as well as the rest of its film and television library, including Fraggle Rock , Farscape , The Dark Crystal , and Labyrinth . Brian Jay Jones wrote the book Jim Henson: The Biography. It was released on what would have been Henson's 77th birthday, September 24, 2013. The moving-image collection of Jim Henson, which contains the film work of Jim Henson and The Jim Henson Company ,

5814-527: The Frog. Of the show's guests, the Henson Archivist points out that Jim Henson placed a special importance on meeting Obraztsov: "As a teenager learning to make puppets, Jim checked out some books from the public library for instruction – one was Obraztsov’s 1950 book, My Profession " Henson continued creating children's television, such as Fraggle Rock and the animated Muppet Babies . He also continued to address darker, more mature themes with

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5928-517: The Language House, where students learning a shared target language live together. Several LLPs exist under the university's Honors College, with focuses in topics including cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, and life sciences. College Park Scholars is another LLP umbrella that includes programs in the arts, public health, and legal thought, among others. There are two main residential areas on campus, North Campus and South Campus. North Campus

6042-640: The Morrill Quad, which was the original center of campus. South of the Morrill Quad are the South Hill and South Campus Commons Communities, and the Southwest Mall and the Robert H. Smith School of Business to the southwest. Running parallel to McKeldin Mall to the north is Campus Drive, the main thoroughfare through campus. Another thoroughfare, Regents Drive, runs perpendicular to the Mall and

6156-408: The Muppets , and the show included a prototype of Henson's most famous character Kermit the Frog . He remained at WRC until Sam and Friends aired its last episode on December 15, 1961. In the show, Henson began experimenting with techniques that changed the way in which puppetry was used on television, foregoing the convention of pointing the camera at a stationary Puppet theatre and instead using

6270-662: The Observatory . The campus contains 7,500 documented trees and garden plantings, leading the American Public Gardens Association to designate the campus the University of Maryland Arboretum & Botanical Garden in 2008. There are also nearly 400 acres (1.6 km ) of urban forest on campus and the Arbor Day Foundation has named the university to its 'Tree Campus USA' list. The recreational Paint Branch Trail, part of

6384-737: The South Campus Commons Community, which consists of seven apartment-style buildings (the seventh and most recent building being opened in January 2010). There are three dining halls on campus. In addition, a food court in the Stamp Student Union provides many fast food dining options for the university community. The 251 North dining hall lies in the Denton Community on the northern part of campus. The second northern dining hall, Yahentamitsi,

6498-599: The United States Department of Agriculture. Henson's older brother, Paul Ransom Henson Jr. (1932–1956), died in a car crash on April 15, 1956. He was raised as a Christian Scientist and spent his early childhood in nearby Leland, Mississippi , before moving with his family to University Park, Maryland , near Washington, D.C. , in the late 1940s. He remembered the arrival of the family's first television as "the biggest event of his adolescence", being heavily influenced by radio ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and

6612-593: The United States, such as Community Coffee , Red Diamond Coffee, La Touraine Coffee, Nash's Coffee , and Jomar Instant coffee. The characters were so successful in selling coffee that soon other companies began seeking them to promote their products, such as bakeries like Merita Breads , service station chains such as Standard Oil of Ohio and the downstream assets of Marathon Oil , and beverage bottlers such as Faygo . Over 300 "Wilkins and Wontkins" commercials were made. The ads were primarily produced in black and white, but some color examples also exist. Henson sold

6726-482: The United States. START is focused on the scientific study of the causes and consequences of terrorism in the United States and worldwide. The university hosts "living-learning" programs (LLPs) that allow students with similar academic interests to live in the same residential community take specialized courses and perform research in those areas of expertise. These include CIVICUS, focused on politics and community service; Hinman CEOs, an entrepreneurship program; and

6840-527: The University of Maryland, after lobbying by President William Kirwan and congressional leaders to foster academic collaboration between the institutions. In 2004, the university began constructing the 150-acre (61 ha) "M Square Research Park", which includes facilities affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense , Food and Drug Administration , and the new National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction, affiliated with The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In May 2010, ground

6954-541: The Wilkins Coffee ads of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the formula stayed fairly similar. For instance, one of the Claussen's commercials featured Kermit the Frog dangling from a window while a character named Mack asks him if he brought a loaf of the company's bread; when Kermit says he did not, Mack closes the window on Kermit's fingers and causes him to fall, suggesting he "drop down" to the grocery store to buy

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7068-510: The administrators to sell off 200 acres (81 ha) of land, and the continuing decline in enrollment sent the Maryland Agricultural College into bankruptcy. The campus was used as a boys' preparatory school for the next two years. The Maryland legislature assumed half ownership of the school in 1866. The college thus became, in part, a state institution. By October 1867, the school reopened with 11 students. In 1868,

7182-410: The art of puppetry in the United States. Around that time, he began creating darker and more realistic fantasy films that did not feature the Muppets and displayed "a growing, brooding interest in mortality." He co-directed The Dark Crystal (1982) with Oz, "trying to go toward a sense of realism—toward a reality of creatures that are actually alive". To provide a visual style distinct from the Muppets,

7296-414: The attribution, no charges were filed. As a result of the data breaches, the university offered free credit protection for five years to the students and faculty affected. In 2017, the university received a record-breaking donation of $ 219.5 million from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation , ranking among the country's largest philanthropic gifts to a public university. Darryll J. Pines became

7410-639: The best ways of being around him was to work with him", according to Cheryl. Henson was a strong supporter of the civil rights movement . Henson appeared with Kermit on The Arsenio Hall Show in Los Angeles on May 4, 1990. This was his final television appearance. Shortly afterwards, he privately disclosed to his publicist that he was tired and had a sore throat, but that he believed it would soon go away. On May 12, Henson traveled to Ahoskie, North Carolina , with his daughter Cheryl to visit his father and stepmother. They returned to their home in New York City

7524-442: The biographical dramedy Saturday Night , which chronicles the production of the first episode of Saturday Night Live . Henson's characters are currently performed by the following puppeteers: Matt Vogel (Kermit), Peter Linz ( Ernie , Link Hogthrob ), Eric Jacobson ( Guy Smiley , The Newsman), Dave Goelz ( Waldorf ) and Bill Barretta ( Rowlf the Dog , The Swedish Chef , Dr. Teeth ). Puppeteer Performing as

7638-467: The campus on Route 1, near Stamp Student Union on Campus Drive, and on the other edge of campus on Adelphi Road, along with a parallel bike path. The Diamondback is an independent student newspaper . It was founded in 1910 as The Triangle and renamed in 1921 in honor of a local reptile, the Diamondback terrapin , which became the school mascot in 1933. The newspaper is published daily during

7752-415: The characters. In 1963, Henson and his wife moved to New York City where the newly formed Muppets, Inc. resided for some time. Jane quit performing to raise their children, and Henson hired writer Jerry Juhl in 1961 and puppet performer Frank Oz in 1963 to replace her. Henson credited them both with developing much of the humor and character of his Muppets. Henson and Oz developed a close friendship and

7866-405: The children's educational television program Sesame Street (1969–present) where he helped to develop Muppet characters for the series. He and his creative team also appeared on the first season of the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (1975–present). He produced the sketch comedy television series The Muppet Show (1976–1981) during this period. Henson revolutionized the way puppetry

7980-520: The college regulatory powers in several areas—including controlling farm disease, inspecting feed, establishing a state weather bureau and geological survey, and housing the forestry board. Morrill Hall (the oldest instructional building still in use on campus) was built the following year. On November 29, 1912, a fire destroyed student housing, school records, and most of the academic buildings, leaving only Morrill Hall untouched. There were no injuries or fatalities, and all but two students returned to

8094-508: The company was becoming typecast solely as purveyors of children's entertainment, so they targeted an adult audience with a series of sketches on the first season of the late-night live television variety show Saturday Night Live . Eleven Land of Gorch sketches were aired between October 1975 and January 1976 on NBC , with four additional appearances in March, April, May, and September 1976. Henson liked Lorne Michaels ' work and wanted to be

8208-417: The computer animation "Nobody Counts To 10." He also directed the original " C Is For Cookie " and Tales from Muppetland , a short series of TV movie specials that were comic retellings of classic fairy tales aimed at a young audience and hosted by Kermit the Frog. The series included Hey, Cinderella! , The Frog Prince , and The Muppet Musicians of Bremen . Henson, Oz, and his team were concerned that

8322-401: The creation and articulation of Yoda . Lucas had also wanted Henson to puppeteer the character, but Henson instead suggested Frank Oz for the role; Oz performed the role and continued in the subsequent Star Wars films. Lucas lobbied unsuccessfully to have Oz nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor . In 1982, Henson founded the Jim Henson Foundation to promote and develop

8436-417: The early television puppets of Burr Tillstrom on Kukla, Fran and Ollie and Bil and Cora Baird . He remained a Christian Scientist at least into his twenties, when he taught Sunday school, but he wrote to a Christian Science church in the early 1970s to inform them that he was no longer a practicing member. Henson attended a variety of grade schools in his youth, including Hyattsville High School until it

8550-675: The east and west by McKeldin Library and the Thomas V. Miller, Jr. Administration Building, respectively. Academic buildings surround McKeldin Mall on the north and south ends. They are the homes to many departments in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences , College of Arts and Humanities, and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. West of McKeldin Mall is the North Hill Community, and south of McKeldin Mall lies Morrill Hall and

8664-436: The first two seasons. He produced a series of counting films for the numbers 1 through 10 which always ended with a baker (voiced by Henson) falling down the stairs while carrying the featured number of desserts. He also worked on a variety of inserts for the numbers 2 through 12, including the films "Dollhouse"; "Number Three Ball Film"; the stop-motions "King of Eight" and "Queen of Six"; the cut-out animation "Eleven Cheer"; and

8778-711: The folklore and mythology-oriented show The StoryTeller (1988), which won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program. The next year, he returned to television with The Jim Henson Hour , which mixed lighthearted Muppet fare with more risqué material. It was critically well-received and won him another Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Variety or Music Program , but it was canceled after 12 episodes due to poor ratings. Henson blamed its failure on NBC's constant rescheduling. In late 1989, Henson entered into negotiations to sell his company and characters (excluding those from Sesame Street ) to The Walt Disney Company for almost $ 150 million, hoping that he would "be able to spend

8892-405: The following day, and Henson cancelled a Muppet recording session that had been scheduled for May 14, 1990, due to his ill health. His wife came to visit that night. Henson was having trouble breathing when he woke up at around 2:00 a.m. EDT on May 15, and he began coughing up blood. He suggested to his wife that he might be dying, but he did not want to take time off from his schedule to visit

9006-562: The forerunner of today's University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College . Two years later, Charles Benedict Calvert (1808–1864), a future U.S. Representative (Congressman) and descendant of the first Lord Baltimore , purchased 420 acres (1.7 km ) of the Riversdale Mansion estate nearby today's College Park, Maryland . Later that year, Calvert founded the school and

9120-475: The former Confederate admiral Franklin Buchanan was appointed president of the school. Enrollment grew to 80 at the time of his resignation, and the school soon paid off its debt. In 1873, Samuel Jones , a former Confederate Major General, became president of the college. Twenty years later, the federally-funded Agricultural Experiment Station was established there. During this same period, state laws granted

9234-491: The historical game now referred to as "The Queen's Game". Phi Beta Kappa established a chapter at The University of Maryland in 1964. In 1969, the university was elected to the Association of American Universities . The school continued to grow, and by the fall of 1985 reached an enrollment of 38,679. Like many colleges during the Vietnam War , the university was the site of student protests and had curfews enforced by

9348-493: The hospital just a few hours sooner. Medical expert Lawrence D. Altman also stated that Henson's death "may have shocked many Americans who believed that bacterial infections no longer could kill with such swiftness." A lack of familiarity with this possibility, combined with the then-recent deaths of prominent men (including Rock Hudson , Liberace , Roy Cohn , and others) whose AIDS deaths had first been publicly euphemized as other illnesses due to AIDS's pervasive stigma, led to

9462-465: The image created by the TV camera and lens to dynamically engage with his characters. He believed that television puppets needed to have "life and sensitivity". Rather than carving wooden puppets Henson built characters from softer, flexible materials like foam rubber; his first iteration of Kermit was made from a halved table tennis ball and fabric from an old coat belonging to his mother, with denim from

9576-411: The movements of the puppet's mouth. However, there is much puppetry which does not use the moving mouth (which is a lip-sync innovation created originally for television where close-ups are popular). Often, in theatre , a moveable mouth is used only for gestural expression, or speech might be produced by a non-moving mouth. In traditional glove puppetry often one puppeteer will operate two puppets at

9690-562: The new system. However, in 1997 the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation allowing the University of Maryland, College Park, to be known simply as the University of Maryland, recognizing the campus' role as the flagship institution of the University System of Maryland. In 1994, the National Archives at College Park completed construction and opened on a parcel of land adjoining the campus donated by

9804-644: The next two decades working in commercials, talk shows, and children's projects before realizing his dream of the Muppets as "entertainment for everybody". The popularity of his work on Sam and Friends in the late 1950s led to a series of guest appearances on network talk and variety shows. He appeared as a guest on many shows, including The Steve Allen Show , The Jack Paar Program , and The Ed Sullivan Show . (Sullivan introduced him as "Jim Newsom and his Puppets" on September 11, 1966.) These television broadcasts greatly increased his exposure, leading to hundreds of commercial appearances by Henson characters throughout

9918-637: The only neutral buoyancy facility at a university. The Joint Global Change Research Institute , which studies human and earth systems, was formed in 2001 by the University of Maryland and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory . The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) launched in 2005 as one of the Centers of Excellence supported by the Department of Homeland Security in

10032-732: The past few days. Henson was placed on a ventilator but quickly deteriorated over the next several hours despite increasingly aggressive treatment with multiple antibiotics. Although the medicine killed off most of the infection, it had already weakened many of Henson's organs, and he died at 1:21 a.m. the following morning. He was 53. David Gelmont, the hospital's intensive care unit director, announced that Henson had died from Streptococcus pneumoniae , an infection that causes bacterial pneumonia . However, on May 29, Gelmont reclassified it as organ dysfunction resulting from streptococcal toxic shock syndrome caused by Streptococcus pyogenes . Gelmont noted Henson might have been saved had he gone to

10146-421: The physical object in such a manner that the audience believes the object is imbued with life. In some instances, the persona of the puppeteer is also an important feature, as with ventriloquist's dummy performers, in which the puppeteer and the human figure-styled puppet appear onstage together, and in theatre shows like Avenue Q . The puppeteer might speak in the role of the puppet's character, synchronising

10260-556: The plan went into effect, 1,550 students (18% of the total student body) faced expulsion. On October 19, 1957, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom attended her first and only college football game at the University of Maryland after expressing interest in seeing a typically American sport during her first tour of the United States. The Maryland Terrapins beat the North Carolina Tar Heels 21 to 7 in

10374-449: The puppet's mouth along with the character's dialogue or while lip-syncing to music. Commenting on his puppet design philosophy, Henson said, "A lot of people build very stiff puppets—you can barely move the things—and you can get very little expression out of a character that you can barely move. Your hand has a lot of flexibility to it, and what you want to do is to build a puppet that can reflect all that flexibility." Sam and Friends

10488-848: The puppets in The Dark Crystal were based on conceptual artwork by Brian Froud , and it was a critical success, winning several industry awards including the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and the Grand Prize Winner at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival . The film was less financially successful in theaters, but later claimed an enormous following and revenue when it was introduced on VHS for home entertainment. Also in 1982, Henson co-founded Henson International Television with Peter Orton and Sophie Turner Laing as his partners. The company

10602-530: The rights to Wilkins and Wontkins to the Wilkins Company, who allowed marketing executive John T. Brady to sell the rights to some toymakers and film studios. However, in July 1992 Brady was sued by Jim Henson Productions for unfair competition in addition to copyright and trademark infringement. The Henson company claimed that Brady was incorrectly using Henson's name and likeness in their attempts to license

10716-622: The role of Kermit. The Children's Television Workshop was renamed Sesame Workshop , which retained the Sesame Street characters in 2000. On February 17, 2004, the Muppets and the Bear in the Big Blue House properties were sold to Disney. One of Henson's last projects was the attraction Muppet*Vision 3D , which opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios on May 16, 1991, exactly one year after his death. The Jim Henson Company retains

10830-424: The school. On April 9, 1920, the college became part of the existing University of Maryland , replacing St. John's College, Annapolis as the university's undergraduate campus. In the same year, the graduate school on the College Park campus awarded its first Ph.D. degrees and the university's enrollment reached 500 students. In 1925 the university was accredited by the Association of American Universities . By

10944-412: The series in 1976, believing that Muppets would appeal only to a child audience. Then, Henson pitched the show to British impresario Lew Grade to finance the show. The show would be shot in the United Kingdom and syndicated worldwide. That same year, he scrapped plans for his Broadway show and moved his creative team to England, where The Muppet Show began taping. The show featured Kermit as host, with

11058-649: The spring and fall semesters, with a print circulation of 17,000 and annual advertising revenues of over $ 1 million. Notable journalists who have been with the paper include David Simon of HBO 's The Wire and NBC 's Homicide: Life on the Street , and cartoonists Jeff Kinney , who created the Diary of a Wimpy Kid fiction series and whose Igdoof strip appeared in The Diamondback ; Aaron McGruder , who first published his cartoon The Boondocks in The Diamondback ; and Frank Cho , who began his career with

11172-452: The tenth consecutive year in 2020. The University of Maryland is ranked among Teach for America 's Top 20 Colleges and Universities, contributing the greatest number of graduating seniors to its 2017 teaching corps. For the fourth consecutive year in 2015, the university was ranked 1st in the U.S. for the number of Boren Scholarship recipients – with nine students receiving awards for intensive international language study. The university

11286-525: The time of his death, he was in negotiations to sell his company to The Walt Disney Company , but talks fell through after his death. He was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991, and was named a Disney Legend in 2011. James Maury Henson was born on September 24, 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi , the younger of two children of Betty Marcella ( née Brown, 1904–1972) and Paul Ransom Henson (1904–1994), an agronomist for

11400-493: The time the first black students enrolled at the university in 1951, enrollment had grown to nearly 10,000 students—4,000 of whom were women. Before 1951, many black students in Maryland were enrolled at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore . In 1957, President Wilson H. Elkins pushed to increase the university's academic standards. His efforts resulted in creating one of the first Academic Probation Plans. The first year

11514-422: The university and insisted on classes continuing. A new administration building was not built until the 1940s. During Phillips Lee Goldsborough 's tenure as Governor of Maryland , the state purchased Maryland Agricultural College, taking control of the school in 1916 and renaming it Maryland State College . In the same year, the first female students, Elizabeth Gambrill Hook and Charlotte Ann Vaux, enrolled at

11628-523: The university to divest from companies that support the Hamas-Israel war. Activism continued in next academic year with the placement of small flags in the lawn on McKeldin Mall, representing the more than 150,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza. The center of the university's 1,250 acres (5.1 km ) is McKeldin Mall, which is the largest academic mall in the United States. The Mall is bordered on

11742-580: The university was ranked among the top 10 universities in The Princeton Review ' s annual survey of the Top Schools for Innovation & Entrepreneurship; this was the sixth consecutive such ranking. The university's faculty has included four Nobel Prize laureates. The earliest recipient (1956), was Juan Ramón Jiménez , a Spanish language and literature professor. Four decades later, physics professor William Daniel Phillips won

11856-689: The world with tributes and condolences. Many of Henson's co-stars and directors from Sesame Street , the Muppets, and other works also shared their thoughts on his death. On May 21, 1990, Henson's public memorial service was conducted in Manhattan at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine . Another was conducted on July 2, at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Harry Belafonte sang "Turn the World Around",

11970-500: Was a commercial disappointment. This demoralized Henson; his son Brian Henson described it as "the closest I've seen him to turning in on himself and getting quite depressed." The film later became a cult classic. In 1984 Henson traveled to Moscow, where he made a film about Sergei Obraztsov . Henson also donated four dolls to the puppeteer to replenish the Moscow Museum of Obraztsov Puppets: Fraggle, Skeksi, Bugard, and Robin

12084-467: Was a distribution company for children's, teens' and family television. Henson worked with Oz again on The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), this time with Oz as sole director. The film grossed $ 25.5 million domestically of a budget of only around $ 8 million, and ranked as one of the top 40 films of 1984. Labyrinth (1986) was a fantasy that Henson directed by himself, but—despite some positive reviews; The New York Times called it "a fabulous film"—it

12198-644: Was a financial success, but Henson began to have doubts about going into a career performing with puppets once he graduated. He spent six weeks in Europe during the summer of 1958, originally with the intent to study painting, but was surprised to learn that puppets were considered just as serious of an art form as painting or sculpture. After returning to the United States he and Jane made their partnership official, creating Muppets, Inc. in November of that same year, then marrying each other in 1959. Henson spent much of

12312-403: Was also cancelled. Meachum then referred Jim to the local NBC-affiliate station WRC-TV , where Henson continued performing his puppets with Jane's help. The two were eventually offered a nightly segment for which they created Sam and Friends , a five-minute puppet show that afforded Henson much more freedom to develop his own creative work. The characters on Sam and Friends were forerunners of

12426-533: Was announced that Ron Howard planned to direct a documentary on Henson's life, with Brian Grazer 's Imagine Entertainment collaborating with Disney Original Documentary to produce it. The project was reported to have "the full participation and cooperation of the Henson family". In April 2024, it was announced the documentary was titled Jim Henson Idea Man . It began streaming on Disney+ on May 31, 2024. In 2024, Henson would be portrayed by Nicholas Braun in

12540-497: Was bolder than he; he once said of the character: "He can say things I hold back." The Muppets appeared in their first theatrical feature film The Muppet Movie in 1979. It was both a critical and financial success; it made $ 65.2 million domestically and was the 61st highest-grossing film at the time. Henson's idol Edgar Bergen died at age 75 during production of the film, and Henson dedicated it to his memory. Henson as Kermit sang " Rainbow Connection ", and it hit number 25 on

12654-456: Was broken on a new Physical Science Complex, including an advanced quantum science laboratory. The university suffered multiple data breaches in 2014. The first resulted in the compromise of over 300,000 student and faculty records. A second data breach occurred several months later. The second breach was investigated by the FBI and Secret Service and found to be done by David Helkowski. Despite

12768-463: Was closed in 1951. He completed his high school career at the newly opened Northwestern High School , where he joined the puppetry club. He enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park , the following fall as a studio arts major, thinking that he might become a commercial artist. As a freshman at the university, Jim took a newly offered puppetry class mostly populated with seniors, including his future wife Jane Nebel . He graduated in 1960 with

12882-434: Was revamped to integrate the two segments, placing much greater emphasis on Henson's work. Cooney frequently praised Henson's work, and PBS called him "the spark that ignited our fledgling broadcast service." The success of Sesame Street also allowed him to stop producing commercials, and he said that "it was a pleasure to get out of that world". Henson was also involved in producing various shows and animation inserts during

12996-542: Was the acting president from 1859 to 1860. On October 5, 1859, the first 34 students entered the Maryland Agricultural College. The school became a land grant college in February 1864. During the Civil War , Confederate soldiers under Brigadier General Bradley Tyler Johnson moved past the college on July 12, 1864, as part of Jubal Early's raid on Washington, D.C. By the end of the war, financial problems forced

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