Jim Henson at Maryland
In 1954, Jim Henson (Class of'60) enrolled at the University of Maryland and began to take studio art classes there, thinking that he might eventually become a commercial artist. A good deal of his artwork from the period has survived, and it indicates that Jim had a lively visual imagination, a considerable facility with color, and an impeccable eye for detail. The strong, simple images he produced anticipated the effective simplification of the puppets he would later design. An example of his early work was Kermit (and "Sam and Friends"), designed in 1955.

Henson Links

WRC-TV
The local television channel where Jim worked when a student at Maryland

Something Fishy
This is a puppet film being made by a student at Maryland now!

Jim and Jane's marriage in 1959
In September of 1954, when Jim was still a freshman, he met Jane Nebel in a puppetry class at the University. She would become his first important performing partner, eventually his wife, and her role would be crucial to the evolution of the first phase of Jim's career.



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