The Hampstead house where Muppets creator Jim Henson lived

Puppeteer Jim Henson was a resident of 50 Downshire Hill from 1979 until 1982 – but used it as a base for meetings and family get-togethers until his death.

He is best remembered as the creator of The Muppets – the community of characters who appeared on shows such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.

The English Heritage blue plaque was unveiled at 50, Downshire Hill, Hampstead in 2021. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) But in 1979 Henson set up his ‘creature shop’ opposite No 50, where he worked on fantastical puppets for his film The Dark Crystal. Later it would supply creatures and effects for Labyrinth, The Witches, Muppet Christmas Carol and more.

Henson was born in Mississippi in 1936, and at the age of 17 answered an advert seeking puppeteers to perform on Washington DC’s WTOP TV Junior Morning Show.

As well as creating The Muppets and characters like Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy, Jim Henson made creatures for The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and The Witches. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) For his successful audition he created the precursors to The Muppets, going on to study graphic design and take a puppetry course at the University of Maryland where he met his future wife Jane.

In 1955, Jim and Jane were given their own TV show, Sam and Friends, starring The Muppets, and by the early 1960s, the team had expanded to include writer Jerry Juhl, puppet builder Don Sahlin and puppeteer Frank Oz.

Oz became a lifelong friend and collaborator – famously voicing characters from Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear to Yoda and co-directing The Dark Crystal.

Throughout the 1960s Henson’s family grew to five children, and he made hundreds of television commercials, took The Muppets on variety shows, and made the Oscar-nominated short film Time Piece.

The Muppets was filmed at Elstree Studios in North London and featured stars such as Rudolf Nureyev interacting with Henson’s puppets. (Image: PA) In 1969, he was part of the team that launched educational show Sesame Street, introducing a community of Muppet characters that are still loved around the world.

By 1976 The Muppet Show was being filmed at North London’s Elstree Studios and featured new characters Fozzie Bear and Kermit’s love interest, Miss Piggy.

Popular in more than 100 countries, stars queued up to appear with Henson’s puppets including Steve Martin, John Cleese and Rudolf Nureyev, who danced with a giant pig in ‘Swine Lake’.

Henson made the UK a creative home for many of his projects and in Hampstead he liked to spend time with friends and colleagues walking and picnicking on Hampstead Heath – the local rabbit population is said to have inspired the 1986 hand-puppet special, The Tale of Bunny Picnic.

While working at Elstree he directed The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and co-directed his fantasy masterpiece The Dark Crystal (1982). It was there that he met George Lucas, for whom he contributed creative insight on Star Wars icon Yoda.

Other movies included The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), TV shows Fraggle Rock, the 1986 film Labyrinth starring David Bowie, and a movie adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, starring Angelica Huston.

Henson died in New York from septic shock in May 1990 aged just 53. Not long after, his name was added to a bench in memory of his late friend Don Sahlin on Hampstead Heath.

Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which started out small in Hampstead, is now a US special effects company working on major blockbusters.