Brian Henson

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Brian Henson (born November 3, 1963)<ref name="dobhensonjournal" /> is an American puppeteer, filmmaker, and the chairman of The Jim Henson Company.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is the son of puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson.

Early life

Henson was born on November 3, 1963<ref name="dobhensonjournal" /> in New York City, the third child 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, Henson appeared in some of the filmed segments that his father produced for the PBS children's series Sesame Street.<ref name="dobhensonjournal" />

As a teenager, he built the first Muppet penguin puppet for the opening "Lullaby of Broadway" segment of a Season 3 episode of The Muppet Show.<ref name="KNPR">Template:Cite news</ref> During his summer break from high school at the age of 17, Henson assisted in the production of The Great Muppet Caper (1981); skilled in the use of marionette puppets, he helped create and operate a special rigging device that allowed the Muppets to appear to ride bicycles.<ref name="Variety2014">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="PCMag">Template:Cite news</ref> Several years later, after performing marionette work in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) in the scene in which rats cook food in a diner, he specialized in managing complicated special effects.<ref name="LATimes1990">Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

Film

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. 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 character he performed on Muppets Tonight, 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 assuming an executive producer role, Henson served as the head judge on the 2014 reality television show Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge. He performed the roles of Janice and Scooter in the 2002 television film It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.

Henson returned to perform Sal Minella, a character he created for Muppets Tonight, in Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021).

Other ventures

Henson is the cocreator, producer and performer for the adult-themed puppet-based variety show Puppet Up!,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and has played various characters from the show on the British program That Puppet Game Show.

For The Muppet Show Live in 2001, Henson performed his own Muppet characters and one of his father's characters, The 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They divorced in 2002.Template:Cn In 2010, Henson married actress Mia Sara.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> They have one child, a daughter born in 2005.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 (voice actor)<ref>Brian Henson interview: How The Happytime Murders revives the darker side of the Muppets. The Independent. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2023.</ref>	Puppeteer of head and hands
1985	Santa Claus: The Movie	Animatronic puppeteer
1986	Little Shop of Horrors	Principal puppeteer
1986	Labyrinth	Hoggle/Goblin (voice actor)<ref>Star Wars and Harry Potter actor Paul Grant dies aged 56. The Guardian. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.</ref>
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 (as a Muppet performer) 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
1992–1994	Dog City	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	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2021	Muppets Haunted Mansion	Sal Minella	Halloween special for Disney+

Video games

Year	Title	Roles	Notes
2000	Muppet RaceMania	Sal Minella/Dr. Phil Van Neuter	Voice<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2003	Muppets Party Cruise	Scooter/Sal Minella/Janice/The Muppet Newsman

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Nominated work	Category	Result	Template:Abbr
1996	Primetime Emmy Awards	Gulliver's Travels	Outstanding Miniseries	Template:Won
		Muppets Tonight	Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series	Template:Nom
1997		The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss	Outstanding Children's Program	Template:Nom
1997	Satellite Awards	Muppet Treasure Island	Best Animated or Mixed Media Film	Template:Nom
1998	Primetime Emmy Awards	The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss	Outstanding Children's Program	Template:Nom
		Muppets Tonight		Template:Won
2019	Golden Raspberry Awards	The Happytime Murders	Worst Picture	rowspan=2 Template:Nom
			Worst Director

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0005008

 | name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=0005008|2=^nm}}
   | Template:Trim/
   | nm0005008/
   }}
 | {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
   | name/Template:First word/
   | find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+Brian+Henson%0A++++++%7C+Brian+Henson%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
   }}
 }}{{#if:  0005008 {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch: 
 | award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
 }}}} {{#if: Brian Henson
 | Brian Henson
 | Template:PAGENAMEBASE
 }}] at IMDb{{#if: 0005008{{#property:P345}}
 | Template:EditAtWikidata
 | Template:Main other

}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=0005008|plain=false}}

 | 1 | 3 =  Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
 | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}

• YouTube Interview

Template:Succession box Template:S-end Template:Brian Henson Template:The Jim Henson Company {{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}}