Jane Henson, who co-created popular US TV puppet program 'The Muppets' with her husband Jim, has died following a long bout with cancer. She was 78.
The Jim Henson company confirmed the news, stating that Henson, who died at her home in Connecticut, was an "integral creative and business partner" in the Muppets, reported Guardian.
Jane, born in Queens, New York, in 1934, was an early puppeteer, as well as puppet designer for the Muppets, best known for characters Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, who starred in numerous television programs and films.
She first met her future husband in puppetry class at the University of Maryland in the mid-1950s and the two went on to create the five-minute television program Sam and Friends, a precursor to the Muppets. The show served as a lead-in to The Huntley-Brinkley Report news show and The Tonight Show Starring Steve Allen .
Although Henson stopped working as a puppeteer to raise her children in the early 1960s, she was still responsible for recruiting top talent and performing occasionally on the children's show Sesame Street.
Henson legally separated from her husband four years prior to his death in 1990 of organ failure following a bacterial infection at the age of 53. She later founded The Jim Henson Legacy to promote his work. Jane is survived by her five children.
