“And he could do amazing things,” Wade added. “Motorized walls that went up and down, a very elaborate huge spiral staircase… he was self-taught but with a very fine artistic sense.” Henson bought a little cottage on the creek that still looks the same from the outside, Wade said, “but inside, it’s like a magical kingdom.” Wade said that Henson was a very private person and not many people in town knew him well, but behind the scenes he could be very generous and helpful.
According to Brian Henson, who spoke to a news crew from a local television station following his younger brother’s death, John was also a devoted father and husband who took great pleasure in spending quality time with his loved ones. “We always would say he was the soul of the family,” said Brian. “He had a very deep, deep soul; a very large capacity for loving people… and although he was very involved with the company and all the Muppet stuff and everything that we did, his passion was up here in Saugerties where his family was and these buildings, all these incredible creations.”
John married wife Gyongyi Katona in 1996. She is co-proprietor of Cherry Blossoms boutique on Partition St. in the village. The couple’s first daughter, Katrina, was born in 1999; their second daughter, Sydney, was born in 2003. On the day John passed away, true to form as the creator of magical spaces, he’d been outside earlier in the day turning the massive piles of accumulated snow into an igloo for his daughter to play in.
After his father’s death in 1990, John became a shareholder and active board member in The Jim Henson Company. John also worked for over a decade as an accomplished puppeteer in the family business. He was one of three men who performed the character of Sweetums, a nine-foot-tall, hairy ogre with bushy eyebrows who looks a little scary but is actually kind of sweet. He performed as Sweetums in several films, including “Muppet Treasure Island” (1996) and “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz” (2005), his last appearance as the character.
In addition to his performances in television and film projects, Henson made live appearances as Sweetums for a number of events, including a 1992 musical tribute to Jim Henson at the Lincoln Center in Armonk and at the unveiling ceremony for Kermit the Frog’s star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002. John also worked as a full-body performer inside of the Coca-Cola polar bear for public relations tours, which sometimes involved the bear sledding and skiing. Along with his sister, Cheryl, John made an on-screen cameo appearance in a 2010 episode of “Sesame Street.”
Many of those who worked with John professionally have released statements about him in the aftermath of his passing. Director Kirk Thatcher, who directed John in the Muppets films, wrote, “John had a huge heart, an easy laugh, a lopsided grin, twinkly impish eyes and a wild, creative streak that burned with a quiet intensity.”
John’s mother, Jane Henson, passed away last year of cancer. According to The Jim Henson Company, she always remained modest about her contributions to the creation of the Muppets and their success. She’d met Jim Henson in a puppetry class at the University of Maryland and became his creative partner as well as later, his wife. She was there when the Muppets debuted on Steve Allen’s Tonight Show.
John Henson is survived by his beloved wife, Gyongyi Henson and daughters, Katrina, 15, and Sydney, 10, all of Saugerties; brother, Brian and his wife, Mia Sara Henson, of Los Angeles, Calif.; and sisters, Lisa Henson and her husband, Dave Pressler, of Beverly Hills, Calif.; Cheryl Henson and her husband, Ed Finn, of Manhattan and Heather Henson of Orlando, Fla. A private service is planned. Expressions of condolence may be shared with the family at www.SeamonWilseyFuneralHome.com.
