Jim Henson Biography

[Dr. Bombay]

Thanks you guys for your suggestions........I'll have to be on the lookout for these things in my searches around eBay........

 

[jediX]

The book I suggested, 'The Works', has a fairly in-depth section about his adolescent life. Either way, it's still the best Muppet-related book I've seen...

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I agree with the "best muppet-related book" line! The Works is one of my favorites!!

 

[Luke]

There was going to be a biography about Jim - the Henson family commisoned it and had a publishing deal. The problem came when the person writing it did some research and found that the real Jim Henson was actually nothing like the mythic person we are led to believe existed, and which the Henson Company go along with. They wrote their draft based on the real-life Jim, the Henson's felt it was too strong and so they canned it.

 

[jediX]

Yea... there's just some stuff ya don't wanna know about him...

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I do. I could still respect his art and entertainment life regardless, they're two different faces. Heck, everyone here even has 2 different faces: one here, then the real you.

It's life, it's reality.

And I'm nosey.

 

[Luke]

Y'know i'm one of those that feels strongly that there was absolutely nothing wrong or that abnormal with his personal life, heck i've seen abnormal in the media, believe me, and Jim Henson wasn't it. Hiding things, to me seems to make more out of it than there ever was. I don't particularly go along with people who say it was his personal life and it should be kept private because Jim himself was pretty open at times and the whole point of a biography about someones life is reading about what things were like behind the public persona and read about what they were really like and what made such an important person tick. I guess it's a case of the family not agreeing, not wanting the small amount of less positive things there may be relating to them aired, and needing to keep close control of his image because the company still trades on his name. Just to me its a shame, i'm not saying we are told lies about him - he was a lovely guy and not a million miles away from the character portrayed nowadays but those extra bits, little stories and tales from people who knew him away from Henson show a more fun and interesting side to his character that clues you in much more on who he really was. The official things about him (The Works, Documentaries etc) seem to water it down so much it restricts the view you get of him.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

When my biography comes out, you'll all burn down the publisher...

 

[Dr. Bombay]

Just to me its a shame, i'm not saying we are told lies about him - he was a lovely guy and not a million miles away from the character portrayed nowadays but those extra bits, little stories and tales from people who knew him away from Henson show a more fun and interesting side to his character that clues you in much more on who he really was. The official things about him (The Works, Documentaries etc) seem to water it down so much it restricts the view you get of him.

I agree with what you have said, Luke. To me, I think that if Jim wanted to keep things personal and closed to the public during his life, that's fine. I just think that now that he has been gone for such a long time it would be ok to learn things that he may not have felt good about but weren't necessarily bad. I think it will just help everyone understand that he was just one of us, he had his good days and bad, but over all he presented a good example.

The same thing is happening with Elizabeth Montgomery. There is a biography of her in the works but the author can't get much cooperation from her family. EM was a very private person during her life and her family is quite protective of her.