Son of Muppets creator, Sweetums actor
John Henson, 48, who occasionally performed as a puppeteer in the famed Muppets troupe, which his father founded, died Friday of a heart attack at his home in Saugerties, N.Y. He did not have a history of heart trouble, his sister Cheryl said.
His father, Jim Henson, died at age 53 of pneumonia in 1990.
John Henson sometimes performed as Sweetums, a large, hairy Muppet who towered over other puppets and humans. Henson played the character for a while at the Muppet*Vision 3D attraction at Disney World, where near the end of the show he would suddenly run into the audience to screams of delight from fans, said Brian Jay Jones, whose biography of Jim Henson biography was published last year. John Henson also trained others who played Sweetums.
He was on the board of The Jim Henson Co., based in Los Angeles, but had little to do with the company’s day-today operations.
He made several Muppets-themed sculptures, some of which were placed in company offices and workshops.
Jones said John Henson was “the spiritual Henson.” After his father’s death, he took possession of the cremated ashes for two years and determined where to scatter them. “John and Jim were once driving in New Mexico, near Taos,” Jones said. “Jim pointed to a hill and said he thought that it was the place where he was meant to live.” In 1992, John Henson and other family members traveled there to spread the ashes.
John Henson is survived by his wife, Gyongyi; daughters Katrina and Sydney; sisters Lisa, Heather and Cheryl; and brother, Brian.
His mother, Jane Henson, died last year of cancer at age 78.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 02/18/2014