NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • For the first time ever-a comprehensive biography of one of the
twentieth century's most innovative creative artists: the incomparable irreplaceable Jim
Henson He was a gentle dreamer whose genial bearded visage was recognized around the world
but most people got to know him only through the iconic characters born of his fertile
imagination: Kermit the Frog Bert and Ernie Miss Piggy Big Bird. The Muppets made Jim Henson
a household name but they were just part of his remarkable story. This extraordinary
biography-written with the generous cooperation of the Henson family-covers the full arc of
Henson's all-too-brief life: from his childhood in Leland Mississippi through the years of
burgeoning fame in America to the decade of international celebrity that preceded his untimely
death at age fifty-three. Drawing on hundreds of hours of new interviews with Henson's family
friends and closest collaborators as well as unprecedented access to private family and
company archives Brian Jay Jones explores the creation of the Muppets Henson's contributions
to Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live and his nearly ten-year campaign to bring The Muppet
Show to television. Jones provides the imaginative context for Henson's non-Muppet projects
including the richly imagined worlds of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth-as well as fascinating
misfires like Henson's dream of opening an inflatable psychedelic nightclub. An uncommonly
intimate portrait Jim Henson captures all the facets of this American original: the master
craftsman who revolutionized the presentation of puppets on television the savvy businessman
whose dealmaking prowess won him a reputation as "the new Walt Disney " and the creative team
leader whose collaborative ethos earned him the undying loyalty of everyone who worked for him.
Here also is insight into Henson's intensely private personal life: his Christian Science
upbringing his love of fast cars and expensive art and his weakness for women. Though an
optimist by nature Henson was haunted by the notion that he would not have time to do all the
things he wanted to do in life-a fear that his heartbreaking final hours would prove all too
well founded. An up-close look at the charmed life of a legend Jim Henson gives the full
measure to a man whose joyful genius transcended age language geography and culture-and
continues to beguile audiences worldwide. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BOOKPAGE
"Jim Henson vibrantly delves into the magnificent man and his Muppet methods: It's an absolute
must-read!"-Neil Patrick Harris "An exhaustive work that is never exhausting a credit both
to Jones's brisk style and to Henson's exceptional life."-The New York Times "[A] sweeping
portrait that is a mix of humor mirth and poignancy."-Washington Independent Review of Books
"A meticulously researched tome chock-full of gems about the Muppets and the most thorough
portrait of their creator ever crafted."-Associated Press
