Jim Henson - The Man Behind The Muppets Quiz

Answer: September 24th, 1936

He actually shares the same birthday with Steve Whitmire, a fellow Muppeteer and the voice of Kermit.

Answer: University of Maryland

Though he grew up in Mississippi, he went to college out of state.

Answer: Wizard of Oz

He stated much later in his life that he was petrified of the MGM lion.

Answer: Maury

James Maury Henson is his full name.

Answer: Timepiece

'Timepiece' was an experimental film, using different camera techniques and odd sights - like a man painting an elephant pink.

Answer: Muppetvision 3D

He was not alive to work on 'Muppet Christmas Carol', 'The Muppets take Manhattan' was made several years before his death, and 'Muppets in Disney World' was the 2nd to last thing he ever worked on.

Answer: Bacterial Pneumonia

He thought he just had a cold. He didn't want to bother anyone with his being sick. At about 4 in the morning he said "My heart's racing - I can't calm down. Okay, call a cab." He was dropped off at the wrong entrance, and walked the extra 2 blocks to get inside the hospital so as not to bother the cab driver.

A few hours later, he was dead. The doctors said that if he had come in a few hours earlier he'd still be alive.

Answer: Harry Belafonte to perform

He wanted it to be a celebration of his life - not sad and teary. Harry Belafonte DID play at the service, singing a beautiful rendition of the song he did on the Muppet Show years before that - "Turn the World Around", but it wasn't a request of his.

Answer: Gonzo

Gonzo is played by Dave Goelz. He of course played Kermit, provided the voice for the Swedish Chef, and when the conductor DID talk, it was Jim.

Answer: 5

His sons Brian and John are puppeteers, and the rest of his children, Cheryl, Lisa, and Heather are all involved in the company in some fashion.

Answer: No

Frank Oz, his partner in puppetry, performed Cookie.

Answer: Harry Belafonte

As stated on the Muppet Show DVDs from Time Life by Brian Henson, Harry Belafonte and Jim shared the same vision of a peaceful world, and that episode was his favorite.

Answer: No

He was described as "The Gentle Giant" as he was 6 feet tall and people who worked for him for over 20 years had never seen him angry. If he WAS angry, he might turn pages of a magazine faster than usual - but he never yelled at people.

Answer: Fraggle Rock

Though he had nothing to do with Muppet Babies aside from creating the characters, he did not perform regularily in Fraggle Rock. He occasionally made appearances as Cantus or Convincing John, but those were seldom. He of course hosted the Jim Henson Hour, and he had passed away by the time Muppets Tonight! landed on ABC.

Answer: Yes

He taught a master puppetry class at the Institue for Puppet Theaterin Charleville-Mezieres, in France. Passing on knowledge was a one of the most important things to Jim.

Answer: No one knows for sure

While Henson had 2 friends named Kermit, there is some disagreement as to why he chose the name for his favorite frog. Some sources say that it was due to the fact that he liked the sound of the name.

Answer: Sam and Friends

He had a timeslot on a Washington DC TV channel that was immediately before the 'Tonight Show', and that spawned his career.

Answer: No

At the beginning, in 'Sam and Friends', he was just a weird creature, and then he was refined to be a frog.

Answer: False

It said "Featuring Frank Oz." Jim was never one to praise his own work or take extra credit - he surrounded himself with brilliant performers and wanted to share it equally. But it did feature Frank because he performed Piggy, Fozzie, Animal, Marvin Suggs, Sam Eagle and multiple smaller characters.

Answer: May 16th, 1990

Less than a year later another major puppeteer, Richard Hunt, died of AIDS complications. This was a major blow to the 'Muppets', but they dusted themselves off and moved on.