With Brian Jay Jones, Fran Brill, Dwight Bowers, Bonnie Erickson, Karen Falk, Barbara Miller, and Craig Shemin in person 
Reception at 6:00 p.m.
Program at 7:00 p.m., followed by a book signing

Brian Jay Jones’s eagerly awaited biography, Jim Henson: The Biography (2013, Ballantine Books), written with the cooperation of Jim Henson’s family, covers the full arc of Henson’s all-too-brief life, exploring the creation of the Muppets, Henson’s contributions to Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live, his nearly ten-year campaign to bring The Muppet Show to television, and such non-Muppet projects as the richly imagined movies The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

The panel features some of the world’s leading experts on Henson’s life and his work, including Fran Brill, the beloved Sesame Street performer; Bonnie Erickson, Executive Director of The Jim Henson Legacy; Dwight Bowers, curator of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History; Karen Falk, archivist for The Jim Henson Company; and Barbara Miller, Curator of the Collection and Exhibitions for Museum of the Moving Image. The program, moderated by Craig Shemin, President of The Jim Henson Legacy, will include rare and delightful clips of Henson talk show appearances, a 35mm print of Henson’s Oscar-nominated experimental short film Time Piece (1965, 9 mins.), and other rarities.

The Museum, which presented the exhibition Jim Henson’s Fantastic World, recently announced the generous donation from the Jim Henson family of hundreds of puppets and artifacts. With support from The City of New York, the Museum will open a permanent gallery devoted to the work of Jim Henson in early 2015.

Tickets: $20 public / $12 Museum members / free for Silver Screen members and above. Order online or call 718 777 6800 to reserve tickets.​​