Jim Henson

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Jane Henson Dies of Cancer

Originally posted 04/02/2013 07:45PM

Jim Henson's partner in marriage and Muppets has died.

Jane Henson died at age 78 Tuesday at her Connecticut home following a battle with cancer, according to the Jim Henson Co.

She and Henson met in a University of Maryland puppetry class in the mid-1950s, and they became creative and business partners in the development of the Muppets.

The Hensons married in 1959 and had five children: Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John and Heather. The pair separated in 1986, and Jim Henson died in 1990.

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Filed Under: Death, Muppets, Jim Henson

Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty

Jerry Nelson, Voice of The Count on Sesame Street, Dies at 78

Originally posted 08/24/2012 01:15PM

It's a sad day for numbers.

Jerry Nelson, the puppeteer known for playing the instructional Count von Count on Sesame Street, died Thursday of unspecified causes, according to CBC Radio-Canada. He was 78.

Besides the non-threatening vampire, Nelson, a Tulsa native who grew up in Washington, D.C., also performed Gobo Fraggle on Fraggle Rock and The Muppet Show's Sgt. Floyd Pepper of the Electric Mayhem band; "Pigs in Space" stalwart Dr. Julius Strangepork; Kermit the Frog's nephew Robin; and Gonzo's girlfriend Camilla the Chicken, among other roles, says the site.