He changed the face of puppets- by giving them movable heads and mouths to synchronise with speech. By mixing the term "marionette" with "puppet" he got the word- muppet.

 

He almost didn't join Children's Television Workshop to work on a new show called "Sesame Street" in 1969... but he did and created Big Bird, Grover, Bert, Ernie and my personal favourites- Count Count and Snuffalupagus.

 

Kermit the Frog was his alter-ego and spoke for everyone who felt different when he crooned it's not easy being green! Which, coincidentally, was the first song sung by a puppet to ever hit the Top 10.

 

The Muppets which ran 1976-1981, at its peak, reached 235 million viewers each week around the world and attracted stars like Rudolf Nureyev, Steve Martin and launched the career of Miss Piggy.

 

What made muppets more than entertainment for children was their innate human qualities- they had flaws, they were sly and they were satirical.

 

Ten years after his sudden death in 1990 of pneumonia- Kermit will be getting his own cable TV channel in the US.

 

So, Jim Henson... you are my eighth