Jane Henson, Co-Creator of 'The Muppets,' Dies

Jim Henson may have had the spotlight, but without his wife Jane, we might not have had all the Muppet characters we all love and know.

Jane Henson died Tuesday at her Connecticut home, following a battle with cancer. She was 78 years old.

Jane and Jim Henson met in a puppetry class at the University of Maryland in 1954. After graduation, the two created “Sam and Friends,” which became a sensation after appearing on “The Tonight Show Starring Steve Allen.”

In 1959 the two married, and had five children: Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John, and Heather, and raised a family while they created “The Muppet Show,” and “Sesame Street.”

Though the two separated in 1986, Jane remained supportive of Jim’s success. Jim Henson died in 1990, and in 1992, Jane created and funded The Jim Henson Legacy. She also created the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and the Jane Henson Foundation for philanthropic work.

On the Henson’s website, they celebrate the legacy of Jane Nebel Henson, saying she was “always modest of her own contribution to the creation and success of The Muppets,” and that she “would often speak to the public about Jim Henson’s body of work and how ‘Jim wanted to leave the world a better place.’

“According to Arthur Novell, the Trustee of The Jim Henson Legacy, ‘most would agree they both did.’”

Links on the website will direct you to where donations honoring Henson may be made, including the Center for Puppetry Arts and The Jim Henson Foundation for the support of puppetry.