Jim Henson biographer claims muppets Creator had affair and informal separation from wife Jane

The creative and personal partnership between Jim Henson and his wife, Jane Henson, remained deeply rooted even after their marriage ended. According to biographer Brian Jay Jones, the connection they built early on never truly disappeared, surviving professional pressures, personal disappointments, and eventual separation.

Jim and Jane married in May 1959 after meeting at the University of Maryland, where they both studied puppetry. Around the same time, they co-founded what would become the foundation of the Muppets empire. Speaking on Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia, Jones reflected on how powerful their early bond was, even as their romantic relationship later unraveled.

Jones, the author of Jim Henson: The Biography, noted that Jim was “not always, in fact, not usually faithful to his own wife.” Despite this, their initial connection was genuine and intense. Jane’s memories of meeting Jim for the first time made that clear.

“She just lights up remembering him entering the room for the first time… it wasn’t one of those ‘I’m going to marry that man,’ but just what the presence he had and how he absolutely knew what he was doing,” Jones shared.

Early on, Jane was not only Jim’s partner but also his collaborator. They worked closely on his first television project, Sam and Friends, and Jane was deeply involved in the creative process. However, as Jim’s success grew and the Muppets expanded into a global phenomenon, the balance between their professional and personal lives shifted.

As Jones explained, Jane was increasingly expected to manage the home and raise their growing family, while Jim focused on the business. Between 1960 and 1970, the couple welcomed five children: Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John, and Heather. For Jane, the shift was painful, especially given her own creative talents.

She found herself “sort of stranded out in the suburbs… while Jim goes into the city every day to play with the guys on the Muppets.”

Jim and Jane legally separated in 1986, though the split was far from bitter. Jane later described it as a “handshake of a separation.” Their emotional bond remained strong, marked by mutual respect and trust.

“They just never stopped listening to each other and valuing each other,” Jones said, noting that Jane was the first person Jim confided in when his health began to fail before his death in 1990. “When he was sick at the very end of his life, the first person he called when he just didn’t know what to do was her.”

Jones stayed in contact with the Henson family while writing his biography, though Jane never saw the final version. She died in April 2013 at age 78, leaving behind a legacy intertwined with Jim’s, defined as much by enduring partnership as by creative brilliance.

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