Interesting tidbit, any truth to it?

[bazingababe24]

I heard somewhere once that Jim Henson's primary reason for growing a beard was to hide his acne scars. I know it's stupid and trivial at best, but is this true at all?

 

[dwmckim]

I think that is credible as in has been mentioned in biographies as opposed to from some obscure non-Henson-related website though i can't offhand remember all the various places i've read it.

 

[Slackbot]

That's it. I'm going to grow a beard.

 

[minor muppetz]

It was mentioned in The Story of Jim Henson: Creator of the Muppets.

 

[dwmckim]

That's it. I'm going to grow a beard.

Hee hee. Sometimes i go into Daffy Duck mode and think about how everyone would look better with a moustache.

My beard comes in handy. Not hiding acne scars but i look very boyish when i'm clean-shavin so if i ever start going through a depression where i wish i looked younger, just a quick shave later and mission accomplished.

 

[bazingababe24]

Check out this photo of Jim and Jane from the Sam and Friends era. His face looks pretty ravaged.

I just thought it was an interesting thing to know because it adds a layer of humanity not many people know about to the master. It's also strangely comforting to know, too. I struggled with bad acne myself a few years ago (I eventually took medication for it), so it's a level on which I can sympathize with him. The funny thing about it was that it became one of his trademarks! If someone doesn't know anything else about what Jim looked like, he or she will invariably know that he had a beard.

 

[Drtooth]

That's it. I'm going to grow a beard.

I for one do NOT want a beard... want being the word. I have Fred Flinstone stubble, no matter how hard I shave. I tried growing a stache, but it got all patchy, and there's one part that doesn't want to come in...

So I guess I'm gonna have to look like a 60's Hanna Barbera character with a stubble line.

Jim Henson... now THERE was someone who could really wear a beard! I can't think of anyone else that wears it as well as he did.

 

[Dearth]

I don't recall hearing about the acne scars as the reason for the beard, but it makes sense.

I too struggled with bad acne as a teen, and was put on an experimental dosage of medication that they warned could make me sterile. I'm not, but one of my sons has cerebral palsy, and I've wondered if there's a connection.

As for having a patchy beard, I remember growing one in college that looked horrible and thinking, "well, I'll never do that again". I am part Cherokee, so I thought perhaps I just had too much Native American blood in me to grow a decent beard, including a couple of spots that didn't seem to fully join together.

But I'm 41 now, and my beard is a bit more 'trained'. I regularly vacillate between clean shaven and full beard. I don't know about my face being more boyish without it, but once you hit that mid-life spread, the beard can definitely make your face look thinner!

Although at the moment, I'm sporting a goatee since I'm playing the Genie in Aladdin at the end of the month.

Alex

 

[bazingababe24]

Here's a better photo of Jim's face before the beard:

http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~kattanas/Images/young_henson.jpg