Muppets

Muppets, puppet family created by the master puppeteer Jim Henson in 1955. Henson was strongly influenced by the diversity of the European puppet theater. The first network television appearance of the Muppets occurred on “The Steve Allen Show” in 1956. The Muppets continued to grow in popularity through the early 1960s but it was their appearance on the Children's Television Workshop production of “Sesame Street” that brought them global recognition. The likes of Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, and Cookie Monster, among many others, provided entertainment and education. In 1976, a new group of Muppets characters that included Kermit began starring in “The Muppet Show,” which received a total of 3 Emmy awards during its 5-year run and became the most popular TV show in the world. Another Henson creation, “Fraggle Rock,” recently became the first U.S. television series to be broadcast in the USSR. Other Henson creations are the “Muppet Babies” cartoon show, winner of 7 Emmy awards, The Great Muppet Caper, The Dark Crystal, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and “The Storyteller.” Henson's philanthropic work included the creation of the Henson Foundation and a close affiliation with the United Nations which issued a Kermit the Frog stamp in 1991. He also supported environmental causes. On May 16, 1990, Jim Henson died of a sudden illness.