James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American artist, cartoonist, puppeteer, inventor and filmmaker who achieved worldwide fame as the creator of the Muppets. Born in Greenville, Mississippi, he was raised in Leland, Mississippi and Hyattsville, Maryland.\n', '

Henson began developing puppets while attending high school. He created Sam and Friends while he was a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park, a five-minute sketch-comedy puppet show that appeared on television. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in home economics, after which he produced coffee advertisements and developed some experimental films. He founded Muppets, Inc., in 1958, which became the Jim Henson Company.\n', '

Henson became famous in 1969 when he joined the children\'s educational television program Sesame Street where he helped to develop characters for the series. He also appeared on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. He produced The Muppet Show in 1976, after scrapping plans for a Broadway show. He won fame for his creations, particularly Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog and Ernie and he was involved with Sesame Street for over 20 years. During the later years of his life, he also founded the Jim Henson Foundation and Jim Henson\'s Creature Shop. He won the Emmy Award twice for his involvement in The Storyteller and The Jim Henson Hour.\n', '

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