Claim: Jim Henson was a puppeteer.

James Maury `` Jim '' Henson -LRB- September 24 , 1936 -- May 16 , 1990 -RRB- was an American puppeteer , artist , cartoonist , inventor , screenwriter , film director and producer who achieved international fame as the creator of the Muppets . Born in Greenville , Mississippi , and raised in Leland , Mississippi , and Hyattsville , Maryland , Henson began developing puppets while attending high school . While he was a freshman at the University of Maryland , College Park , he created Sam and Friends , a five-minute sketch-comedy puppet show that appeared on television . After graduating from the University of Maryland with a degree in home economics , he produced coffee advertisements and developed some experimental films . Feeling the need for more creative output , Henson founded Muppets Inc. in 1958 -LRB- which would later become the Jim Henson Company -RRB- .   Henson became famous in the 1960s when he joined the children 's educational television program Sesame Street , and there helped develop characters for the series . He also appeared on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live . In 1976 , after scrapping plans for a Broadway show , he produced The Muppet Show . He won fame for his creations , particularly Kermit the Frog , Rowlf the Dog , and Ernie , and was involved with Sesame Street for over 20 years . Rowlf the Dog was a cast member on the Jimmy Dean Show in the early 60 's . He also had frequent roles in Muppets films such as The Muppet Movie , The Great Muppet Caper , and The Muppets Take Manhattan , and created advanced puppets for projects like Fraggle Rock , The Dark Crystal , and Labyrinth . During the later years of his life , he also founded the Jim Henson Foundation and Jim Henson 's Creature Shop . His involvement in two television programs -- The Storyteller and The Jim Henson Hour -- led to Emmy Award wins .   Henson died of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome on May 16 , 1990 , at age 53 , twenty hours after experiencing a medical emergency -- an unexpected event that was widely lamented in the film and television industries . In the weeks after his death , he was celebrated in a wave of tributes . He was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991 , and as a Disney Legend in 2011 .