Jim Henson: The Biography (95 page)

1
“gonna make this deal go through”
BB, archival interview.

2
“death and taxes,” “It finally became a situation”
Peter Schube interview.

3
“Believe me”
Brillstein, 333.

4
“harder and harder”
Dan Ackman, “The Muppets Come Home,”
Wall Street Journal
, May 13, 2003.

5
“natural home”
Alice Daniel, “The Muppet Family Business,”
Success
, 2011.

6
“We are honored”
Peter Grant and Bruce Orwell, “Leading the News: Disney Buys Henson Muppets; Comcast Continues Its Pursuit,”
Wall Street Journal
, February 18, 2004.

7
“Jim inspired people”
Brillstein, 338–39.

8
“In this industry”
Anthony Minghella, archival interview.

9
“I see Jim’s life”
Being Green
, 33.

10
“Jim had a sense of humor”
Ibid., 38.

11
“he could integrate play”
Ibid., 130.

12
“Even today, many, many years later”
Fran Brill interview.

13
“He was a creatively restless individual”
Daniel, “The Muppet Family Business.”

14
“That’s probably what he taught me”
BH interview.

15
“Jim didn’t think in terms of boundaries”
Being Green
, 151.

16
“I often tell people”
Bonnie Erickson interview.

17
“so overpowering”
Anthony Minghella, archival interview.

18
“an extraordinary appreciator”
FO, remarks at the Jim Henson London Memorial, 1990
(Being Green
, 138).

19
“Underneath the zaniness”
Being Green
, 148.

20
“He often started”
Alex Rockwell interview.

21
“I know that it’s easier”
Being Green
, 161.

22
“He wasn’t a saint”
Richard Hunt, archival interview.

23
“That’s how I think of my dad”
CH interview.

24
“We all have jobs”
Richard Hunt, archival interview.

25
“When I was young”
JH, “The Courage of My Convictions.”

Bacon, Matt.
No Strings Attached: The Inside Story of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop
. New York: Macmillan, 1997.

Bailey, Joseph A.
Memoirs of a Muppets Writer (You Mean Somebody Actually Writes That Stuff?)
. New York: Walnut, 2011.

Batchelder, Marjorie.
The Puppet Theatre Handbook
. New York: Harper & Row, 1947.

Borgenicht, David.
Sesame Street Unpaved
. New York: Hyperion, 2008.

Brillstein, Bernie, with David Rensin.
Where Did I Go Right? You’re No One in Hollywood Unless Someone Wants You Dead
. Beverly Hills: Phoenix, 1999.

Chester, Lewis.
All My Shows Are Great: The Life of Lew Grade
. London: Aurum, 2010.

Damron, Andra, and the Hyattsville Preservation Society.
Hyattsville
. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia, 2008.

Davis, Michael.
Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street
. New York: Viking, 2008.

Dean, Jimmy, and Donna Meade Dean.
Thirty Years of Sausage, Fifty Years of Ham: Jimmy Dean’s Own Story
. New York: Berkley, 2006.

Durrett, Deanne.
Inventors and Creators: Jim Henson
. San Diego: Kidhaven, 2002.

Eide, Paul, Alan Cook, and Steve Abrams, eds.
A Timeline of Puppetry in America
. Minneapolis: Puppeteers of America, 2003.

Eisner, Michael.
Work in Progress
. New York: Hyperion, 1999.

Falk, Karen.
Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal
. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2012.

Finch, Christopher.
Jim Henson: The Works, the Art, the Magic, the Imagination
. New York: Random House, 1993.

———.
The Making of The Dark Crystal: Creating a Unique Film
. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1983.

———.
Of Muppets and Men: The Making of The Muppet Show
. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981.

Fischer, Stuart.
Kids’ TV: The First 25 Years
. New York: Facts on File Publications, 1983.

Froud, Brian.
The Goblins of Labyrinth
. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2006.

———.
The World of The Dark Crystal
. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982.

Gikow, Louise.
Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street
. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2009.

Gourse, Leslie.
Jim Henson: Young Puppeteer
. New York: Aladdin, 2000.

Henson Associates.
The Art of the Muppets
. New York: Bantam, 1980.

Henson, Jim, and the Muppets and Friends.
It’s Not Easy Being Green (And Other Things to Consider)
. Edited by Cheryl Henson. New York: Hyperion, 2005.

Hill, Doug, and Jeff Weingrad.
Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live
. New York: William Morrow, 1989.

Hollis, T. M.
Hi There, Boys and Girls! America’s Local Children’s Television Programs
. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001.

Holub, Joan.
Who Was Jim Henson?
New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 2010.

Inches, Alison.
Jim Henson’s Designs and Doodles: A Muppet Sketchbook
. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

Lewis, Jim.
Jim Henson’s Doodle Dreams
. Des Moines: Meredith, 2008.

Masters, Kim.
The Keys to the Kingdom: How Michael Eisner Lost His Grip
. New York: William Morrow, 2000.

Obraztsov, Sergei.
My Profession
. Translated by Ralph Parker and Valentina Scott. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, circa 1950.

Rinzler, J. W.
The Making of The Empire Strikes Back
. New York: Ballantine, 2010.

Settel, Irving.
A Pictorial History of Television
. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1983.

Shales, Tom, and James Andrew Miller.
Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live
. New York: Little, Brown, 2002.

Spinney, Caroll.
The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch): Lessons from a Life in Feathers
. New York: Villard, 2003.

St. Pierre, Stephanie.
The Story of Jim Henson, Creator of the Muppets
. New York: Dell, 1991.

Stewart, James B.
Disneywar
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.

Title page
:
© Bill Pierce. Kermit the Frog © Disney.

prl.1
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Bernard Gotfryd/Premium Archive/Getty Images. Kermit the Frog © Disney.

1.1
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Courtesy of Henson Family Properties.

2.1
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Courtesy of Henson Family Properties. Muppets © Disney.

3.1
:
Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney. Photo: Del Ankers.

4.1
:
Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney. Photo: Del Ankers.

5.1
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Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney. Photo: Del Ankers.

6.1
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Courtesy of Sesame Workshop.

7.1
:
Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney.

8.1
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Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.

9.1
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Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney.

10.1
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Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Muppets © Disney.

11.1
:
Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Photo: Murray Close.

12.1
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Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.

13.1
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Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.

14.1
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Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Kermit the Frog © Disney.

15.1
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Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.

16.1
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Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Photo: Lynn Goldsmith.

epl.1
:
Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company. Photo: Kerry Hayes.

PHOTO: STEPHANIE HITCHCOCK

B
RIAN
J
AY
J
ONES
is an award-winning biographer and vice president of Biographers International Organization. Jones is a devoted member of the Jim Henson generation, having been two years old when
Sesame Street
premiered in 1969 and nine when
The Muppet Show
debuted in 1976. A former policy analyst and advisor in the U.S. Senate, Jones abandoned politics for the pen in 2008, with the publication of his award-winning biography,
Washington Irving
. He lives with his wife and daughter in Damascus, Maryland. His favorite Muppet is Rowlf (thanks for asking).