Jim Henson: The Biography (84 page)
Read Jim Henson: The Biography Online
Authors: Brian Jay Jones
I also want to acknowledge a few members of the Henson family who made me feel welcome as I took the time of another family member: Lisa Henson’s husband, David Pressler, and their children, Julian and Ginger; Cheryl Henson’s husband, Ed Finn, and their children, Elizabeth and Declan; and John Henson’s wife, Gyongyi, and their children, Sydney and Katrina. Thanks for your patience and courtesy.
I also want to extend my appreciation to Eric Burns, Edward Crapol, Christoph Irmscher, Kate Eagen Johnson, and Ted Widmer (all of whom know why), as well as Jill Schwartzman, Brian Shirey, and Charles J. Shields—who
also
all know why.
At Random House, I am particularly thankful for my editor, Ryan Doherty, whose enthusiasm for this project was truly inspirational, and whose guidance and editorial talent helped make this book better and clearer. I also appreciate the support of Richard Callison and Jennifer Tung, and the talents of David Moench and Quinne Rogers. The copyediting team of Frederick Chase and Beth Pearson went above and beyond in keeping this book as clean and free of mistakes as possible. Any errors or inaccuracies in this book remain mine and mine alone.
A very special thank-you to my agent, Jonathan Lyons, whose expertise helped guide this book through its fledgling state, and who still guides and encourages me to this day. He and his wife, Cameron, made me feel like one of the family during my countless trips to New York, and I am grateful for their personal and professional friendship.
On a personal note, I am thankful for the family, friends, and colleagues who encouraged and supported me during the five years I was at work on this dream project, who always asked, “How are
things going?” and understood when I had to decline invitations with, “I can’t; I’m writing.” My deepest thanks, then, to my parents, Larry Jones and Elaine and Wayne Miller, and my awesome, Muppet-loving brother, Cris. My warmest appreciation to Mike and Cassie Knapp, Frank and Jane Schwartz, Dave and Trish English, Joe and Angie Marella, Raice and Liselle McLeod, Dave and Gail Noren, Mike and Marron Lee Nelson, Daniela Moya-Geber, Carmen Berrios, Nancy Aldous, and Joyce Fuhrmann.
Finally, none of what you now hold in your hands could have been accomplished without the love and support of the two most important people in the world to me–my wife, Barb, and our daughter, Madi. Their enthusiasm and excitement for this project—even as I disappeared downstairs into my office to write for days and weeks on end—made missing family dinners or weekend volleyball tournaments a bit more bearable. More important, their love and laughter always gave me something warm and wonderful to come up the stairs to each evening. Barb and Madi—and yes, even Grayson the dog—this is your book, too, for I couldn’t have done it without you. I love you guys. Now get the dog off the couch.
—Damascus, Maryland, February 2013
Several frequently cited names and sources appear in these notes in shortened form, including on first reference. A key appears below, but a few sources merit special mention.
First, much of the research for this book was conducted in the private archives of The Jim Henson Company in Long Island City, New York. Most referenced materials from these archives are denoted with the prefix JHCA and some sort of a short identifying tag—usually indicating a folder or, in some cases, an archival box—in accordance with the archive’s internal filing system. Additionally, a number of private materials—which do not reside in the company’s archives—were graciously provided for my usage by the Henson family, through their counsel. These items are denoted as “Henson Family Properties.”
One of the most helpful documents in the archives is the private journal of Jim’s that he began in 1965, in which he would note key dates and events in his life. This journal, with a striped red cover on which he inked the words “T
HE
M
UPPETS
,” has since come to be called “Jim’s Red Book.” It will hereafter be cited as “JH RB” in these pages.
Jim Henson rarely sat for extensive interviews, but one of the best was conducted by Judy Harris, whose complete, unpublished
1982 interview can be retrieved on her website at
http://users.bestweb.net/~foosie/henson.htm
. I am very grateful to Judy for permitting me to quote freely from this interview, which is cited in these notes as “Harris.” Additionally, in the mid-1980s, Jim again permitted himself to be interviewed at length—likely by author Christopher Finch, though memories are hazy—and then had his answers transcribed into a twenty-three-page document filed in the archives as “Jim Henson Quotes.” This document will be cited as “JH Quotes.”
Finally, two of the most important books on Jim Henson and his work are Christopher Finch’s 1993
Jim Henson: The Works, the Art, the Magic, the Imagination
and his 1981
Of Muppets and Men: The Making of The Muppet Show
(see the Selected Bibliography). Finch’s books contain not only valuable information but also provide crucial firsthand accounts of Jim and the Muppet performers at work. These books are cited in these notes as
WAMI
and
OMAM
, respectively.
Unless otherwise indicated, interviews were conducted by the author.
K
EY TO
S
HORTENED OR ABBREVIATED
N
AMES AND
S
OURCES
BB = Bernie Brillstein
Being Green
= Jim Henson and the Muppets and Friends,
It’s Not Easy
Being Green (And Other Things to Consider)
BH = Brian Henson
CH = Cheryl Henson
DL = David Lazer
FO = Frank Oz
Harris = Jim Henson interview with Judy Harris, 1982
JH = Jim Henson
JHCA = Jim Henson Company archives
JH Quotes = “Jim Henson Quotes” (JHCA family box)
JH RB = Jim Henson’s Red Book (JHCA 9177)
JJ = Jerry Juhl
JS = Jon Stone
LH = Lisa Henson
OMAM = Christopher Finch,
Of Muppets and Men: The Making of The Muppet Show
WAMI = Christopher Finch,
Jim Henson: The Works, the Art, the Magic, the Imagination
HAPTER
O
NE
: T
HE
D
ELTA
1
The town of Leland
Dorothy Love Turk,
Leland, Mississippi: From Hellhole to Beauty Spot
(Leland Historical Foundation, 1986), 3–12.
2
In 1904
Amy Lipe Taylor,
The Delta Branch Experiment Station: 100 Years of Agricultural Research
(Mississippi State University, 2004), 13.
3
One of Jim’s favorite family stories
The author is grateful to the Henson family, through Henson Family Properties, for providing audio recordings of Jim interviewing Betty and Paul Henson, Sr., on August 6, 1972, and Mary Ann Jenkins, Bobby Henson, and Paul Henson, Sr., on Deccember 30, 1981. Unless otherwise noted, these recordings served as this chapter’s primary source of quotes and stories regarding Jim Henson’s ancestry (hereafter cited as “JH audio interviews”).
4
Albert and Effie would eventually settle
The Twelfth Census of the United States (1900) shows the Hensons living in the township of South Wichita, Lincoln County, Oklahoma.
5
Over the next four years
Paul Henson’s 1928 thesis was titled “Yield Studies of Seventy-Five Hybrid Strains of Soybeans.” The author is grateful to Iowa State University for providing a copy of this document.
6
One afternoon, while eating his lunch
Tomma S. Jenkins, email to Heather Henson, September 9, 1998.
7
Oscar Hinrichs
Rick Williams and Rosanne Butler, “Journals of a Confederate Mapmaker,” Boston Map Society newsletter 18 (October 2006). See also Rosanne Butler, “Information About Oscar Hinrichs and Family,” December 2006 (JHCA 20028).
8
Less than a year later
Hinrichs’s suicide note was published in the September 25, 1892,
Washington Post
as “A Strange Document.”
9
Born in Kentucky
See Twelfth Census of the United States for Jefferson County, Kentucky.
10
For the next few years
The Thirteenth Census of the United States (1910) shows the Browns—including Mary Agnes and Betty—living in Memphis City, Shelby County, Tennessee, where Maury’s profession is listed as “chief clerk, railroad office.” In 1920, the Browns—now including youngest daughter Bobby—were in New Orleans, while the Fifteenth Census (1930) puts them in Hyattsville, Maryland.
11
“I just thought we had the happiest home”
JH audio interviews.
12
At some point
Jane Henson interview.
13
“perfectly awful”
JH audio interviews.
14
“upbeat all the time”
CH interview.
15
spring of 1930
Anne Turkos, Archivist, University of Maryland, email to the author, October 25, 2010.
16
Near record harvests
Turk,
Leland, Mississippi: From Hellhole to Beauty Spot
, 84.
17
a four-room house
Donald H. Bowman,
A History of the Delta Branch Experiment Station, 1904–1985
(Mississippi State University, 1985), 19.
18
Milk was delivered
Turk,
Leland, Mississippi: From Hellhole to Beauty Spot
, 83.
19
with Dear and Bobby close at hand
An announcement in the December 11
Washington Post
indicates that Sarah and Bobby Henson had returned home after being in Leland for “more than a month.” See social page announcements relating to Hyattsville,
Washington Post
, December 11, 1932.
20
Paul Ransom Henson, Jr
. While many sources, including
WAMI
, state that Paul Henson, Jr., was two years older than Jim—which would mean he was born in 1934—Paul Henson was born in 1932. Paul’s birth was announced in the November 6, 1932,
Washington Post
(see social announcements for Hyattsville,
Washington Post
, November 6, 1932). Further, his obituary in the April 16, 1956,
Evening Star
gives his age as twenty-three, consistent with a late 1932 birth.
21
small, sad-eyed boy
WAMI
, 2.
22
regular and extended trips
For evidence of the Hensons’ frequent visits to Maryland over several months, see “Bridge Is Given for Mary Carr at Hyattsville,”
Washington Post
, September 30, 1934; “Hyattsville Reception Honors Mrs. Sturgis, Retiring Principal,”
Washington Post
, October 14, 1934; and “Bridge Is Given by Mrs. Brown at Hyattsville,”
Washington Post
, January 13, 1935.
23
thunderstorms still rumbling
“Harvesting Season Passes the Peak; Cotton Picking Was Halted in Leland This Week by Scattered Showers,”
Leland Enterprise
, September 25, 1936.
24
The following morning
The Leland Enterprise
of Friday, September 25, 1936, reports, “Mr. and Mrs. Paul Henson are receiving congratulations on the arrival of a son at the Hospital Wednesday.” Given that Wednesday would have been the 23rd, and not the 24th, there may have been some confusion over the date on which Betty Henson entered the hospital, and when she actually gave birth to Jim. Despite the newspaper’s erroneous report, there is no controversy over Jim’s birth date. The Jim Henson Company Archives contains Betty Henson’s medical records, confirming date and time of birth, birth weight, and attending physician (JHCA 8699).
25
4012 Tennyson Road
The author is grateful to former University Park mayor John Brunner for tracking down this information and providing a copy of the deed for this property. Prior to purchasing the home on Tennyson, the Hensons rented a house on Shepard Street.
26
a thriving downtown
Hyattsville: Our Hometown
(City of Hyattsville, 1988), 37–42.
27
newly established Bureau of Plant Industry
“The History of USDA” slide show,
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Aboutus/docs.htm?docid=19854
.
28
publishing his findings
P. R. Henson, M. A. Hein, M. W. Hazen, and W. H. Black, “Cattle Grazing Experiments with Sericea Lespedeza at Beltsville, Maryland,”
Journal of Animal Science
2 (1943): 314–20.
29
“Jim hardly ever”
John Culhane, “The Muppets in Movieland,”
New York Times
, June 10, 1979.
30
while he would later cite
St. Pierre, 18.
31
“None of us”
Gordon Jones interview.
32
“there were snakes”
Tommy Baggette interview.
33
“I was a Mississippi Tom Sawyer”
Don Freeman, “Muppets on His Hands,”
Saturday Evening Post
, November 1979.
34
When pressed
Gourse, 48.
35
“Jimmy Childress was going to be Jimmy”
Royall Frazier interview.
36
a religious survey
Turk,
Leland, Mississippi: From Hellhole to Beauty Spot
, 37.
37
“Over the years”
JH, from the unpublished “The Courage of My Convictions,” circa 1986 (JHCA 16422). In the mid-1980s, Jim was asked to write a short piece for a book on spirituality. Neither the book nor Jim’s five-page piece was published.
38
“He was not an evangelical”
Gordon Jones interview.
39
“Jim found it”
Royall Frazier interview.
40
On the corner
Turk,
Leland, Mississippi: From Hellhole to Beauty Spot
, 94.
41
“We’d always go on Saturday”
Tommy Baggette and Gordon Jones interviews.
42
“A child’s use of imagination”
Being Green
, 110.
43
“The good guy had a birthmark”
Gordon Jones interview.
44
regular trips from Maryland
While many biographies state that Dear was a resident of Mississippi, this is not the case. Pop and Dear lived in the same house on Marion Street in Hyattsville from 1923 until 1955, when they moved into a nearby apartment.
45
“[He’s] the one who taught our mother”
JH audio interviews.
46
“the Brown girls were never allowed to forget they were Southerners!”
Ibid.
47
“He was convinced”
Jane Henson interview.
48
“a little bit more of a nerd”
Melissa Townsend, “An Interview with Kermit Scott,”
Delta Magazine
, January/February 2006, 30.
49
“[He] would do things like that”
Gordon Jones interview.
50
“He’d reach out his handkerchief”
Royall Frazier interview. 18
It was no accident
Gordon Jones interview. Tommy Baggette recalls another skit night at which Jim and other troop members performed a puppet show, using puppets purchased from a toy store in Greenville. However, Baggette could not recall any specifics about the show or Jim’s performance, while others interviewed for this book could not recall performing a puppet show at all. Gourse, 53–54.
51
“were very quiet people”
Gordon Jones interview.
52
During the almost weekly summer fish fries
Tommy Baggette interview.
53
“absolutely delightful”
Gordon Jones interview.
54
“His mother was great for jokes”
Royall Frazier interview.
55
“Both of us nearly got killed”
Townsend, “An Interview with Kermit Scott.”
56
While Jim and Paul were four years apart
Finch, in
WAMI
, describes Paul as “a shy, precocious boy,” while Jim’s friends recall that Paul, though four years older than most of them, was, according to Frazier, “not very big.”
WAMI
, 2; Royall Frazier interview.
57
Jim would always be a gadget freak
JH audio interviews.
58
“You could get one radio station”
Royall Frazier interview.
59
“Early radio drama”
St. Pierre, 18.
60
Fibber McGee and Molly
While interviewing his parents in 1972, Jim talked briefly about radio shows he remembered (JH audio interviews).
61
But most of all
Culhane, “The Muppets in Movieland.”
62
“I wasn’t thinking,” “Edgar Bergen’s work”
Ibid.
63
The family purchased
While Jim’s address—and tax district—was University Park, Jim would always write his address as Hyattsville, which is how it appears on both his passport and his University of Maryland transcript.
64
“I was really sad”
Gordon Jones interview.
65
retire to the porch
CH interview.
66
“There was so much laughter”
JH, quoted during JH audio interviews.
67
“Fifteen or twenty people would be there”
Being Green
, 112.
68
“drove ’em all crazy”
Culhane, “The Muppets in Movieland.”