Brian Henson

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Brian Henson
Born	(1963-11-03) November 3, 1963 (age 57)[1] New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Puppeteer, director, producer, technician, chairman of The Jim Henson Company
Years active	1979–2005, 2006–present
Spouse(s)	Ellis Flyte ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 2002)​ Mia Sara ​ ​ (m. 2010)​
Children	1
Parent(s)	Jim Henson Jane Henson
Relatives	Lisa Henson (sister) Cheryl Henson (sister) John Henson (brother) Heather Henson (sister)

Brian David Henson (born November 3, 1963)^{[citation needed]} is an American puppeteer, director, producer, technician, and the chairman of The Jim Henson Company.^[2] He is the son of puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson.

Early life[]

Brian David Henson was born in New York City, is the first born son of Jane Henson (née Nebel; 1934–2013) and Jim Henson (1936–1990). He has four siblings: Lisa (born 1960), Cheryl (born 1961), John (1965–2014), and Heather Henson (born 1970). As a child, he made several cameo appearances in some of the filmed segments his father produced for the PBS children's series Sesame Street, most notably in various segments of the "Number Song Series." As he got older, he built the first Muppet penguin puppet for the opening "Lullaby of Broadway" segment of a season three episode of The Muppet Show, guest starring Gilda Radner. During his summer break from high school in 1980, he assisted in the bicycle sequence from The Great Muppet Caper (1981). He helped create and operate a special rigging device that was created to allow the Muppets to ride bicycles since he was skilled in the use of marionette puppets. A few years later, he similarly operated a marionette of Scooter riding a bicycle in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984).

Career[]

Film[]

During the 1980s, Henson performed Jack Pumpkinhead in Return to Oz (1985), operated special effects for Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), and was a principal performer for the Audrey II puppet in Little Shop of Horrors (1986), controlling mouth movement while others performed the lips and vines. In addition, he also performed the voice of Hoggle, one of the main characters in his father's film Labyrinth (1986), and the Dog in both versions of The Storyteller (1988 and 1990).

In 1992, Henson directed The Muppet Christmas Carol and directed the next film in the franchise, Muppet Treasure Island, in 1996. He performed the role of Dr. Phil van Neuter, the Muppet mad scientist in Muppets from Space (1999). In 2018, he directed and produced The Happytime Murders, a puppet crime-comedy film for adult audiences.

Television[]

Henson was the executive producer for several television series: Dinosaurs (1991–94), Aliens in the Family (1996), Bear in the Big Blue House (1997–2006), and Farscape (1999–2003). In addition to an executive producer's role, Henson played himself as the head judge on the 2014 reality TV show Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge. He performed the roles of Janice and Scooter in the 2002 made-for-TV movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.

Other ventures[]

Henson is the co-creator, producer, and currently a performer in the adult-themed puppet-based variety show Puppet Up!,^[3] and played various characters from that variety show on the British program That Puppet Game Show.

For 2001s "The Muppet Show Live", in addition to performing his own Muppet characters, Henson also performed one of his father's characters, The Muppet Newsman, for the first time. He reprised the role for the 2003 video game "Muppets Party Cruise".

Personal life[]

Henson married Ellis Flyte, costume designer for the 1986 fantasy adventure film Labyrinth, in November 1990.^[4] They divorced in 2002. Since 2010, Henson has been married to actress Mia Sara.^{[5][better source needed]} They have one child, a daughter born in 2005.^[6]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	The Great Muppet Caper	Muppet performer	Also made a cameo appearance
1984	The Muppets Take Manhattan	Muppet performer	Uncredited
1985	Return to Oz	Jack Pumpkinhead
1985	Santa Claus: The Movie	Animatronic puppeteer
1986	Little Shop of Horrors	Principal puppeteer
1986	Labyrinth	Hoggle/Goblin
1987	Jim Henson Presents Mother Goose Stories	Co-director
1990	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Second unit director/Chief puppeteer
1990	The Witches	Puppeteer
1990	Basil Hears a Noise	Puppeteer Executive producer	Uncredited
1992	The Muppet Christmas Carol	Director/Producer
1996	Muppet Treasure Island	Director/Producer
1997	Buddy	Executive producer
1999	Muppets from Space	Dr. Phil Van Neuter/Sal Minella/Talking Sandwich Producer
1999	The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland	Executive producer
2017	The Star	Executive producer
2018	The Happytime Murders	Crab/on-screen cameo (photograph) Director; producer

Television[]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	The Christmas Toy	Cruiser	TV movie
1988–1991	The Storyteller	Storyteller's Dog/Devil/Griffin
1989–1990	The Jim Henson Hour	Storyteller's Dog/Dog the Dinosaur/ Head of the Ultragorgon
1990	Basil Hears a Noise	Puppeteer Executive producer	TV movie
1991–1994	Dinosaurs	Grandma Ethyl Phillips/Arthur Rizzic Executive producer
1996	Aliens in the Family	Executive producer
1996	Gulliver's Travels	Co-executive producer
1996–1998	Muppets Tonight	Sal Minella/Dr. Phil Van Neuter/Seymour/Nigel Writer
1997–2003	Bear in the Big Blue House	Executive producer
1999	Alice in Wonderland	Executive producer	TV movie
1999–2003	Farscape	Executive producer
2001	Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story	Director	TV movie
2002	It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie	Scooter/Sal Minella/Janice Executive producer	TV movie
2004	Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars	Director/Executive producer
2005	The Muppets' Wizard of Oz	Sal Manilla Executive producer	TV movie
2008	Jim Henson's Pajanimals	Executive producer
2008–2009	Sid the Science Kid	Executive producer
2009–2011	Dinosaur Train	Executive producer
2010	Hot Dog TV	Voice Director
2013	That Puppet Game Show	Various
2014	Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge	Executive producer and Head Judge
2020	Prop Culture	Himself	Episode: "The Muppet Movie"
2020	Earth to Ned	Vincent	Episode: "I've Got a Ned Feeling About This"; Also executive producer[7]

Awards and nominations[]

Year	Association	Nominated work	Category	Result	Ref(s)
1996	Primetime Emmy Awards	Gulliver's Travels	Outstanding Miniseries	Won
		Muppets Tonight	Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series	Nominated
1997		The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss	Outstanding Children's Program	Nominated
1997	Satellite Awards	Muppet Treasure Island	Best Animated or Mixed Media Film	Nominated
1998	Primetime Emmy Awards	The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss	Outstanding Children's Program	Nominated
		Muppets Tonight		Won
2019	Golden Raspberry Awards	The Happytime Murders	Worst Picture	Nominated	[8]
			Worst Director	Nominated

References[]

External links[]

• Brian Henson at IMDb
• YouTube Interview

Preceded by None	Performer of Andy 1994	Succeeded by Steve Whitmire
Preceded by Matt Vogel	Performer of Scooter 2002–2003	Succeeded by Rickey Boyd
Preceded by Jerry Nelson	Performer of Sal Minella 1996–2007	Succeeded by None
Preceded by Matt Vogel	Performer of Janice 2002–2003	Succeeded by Tyler Bunch
Preceded by Jerry Nelson	Performer of The Muppet Newsman 2001–2003	Succeeded by Steve Whitmire