Jerry Juhl

Jerry Juhl
Born	Jerome Ravn Juhl July 27, 1938 St. Paul, Minnesota
Died	September 27, 2005 San Francisco, California
Nationality	American
Known for	writing and puppeteering for Jim Henson's Muppets

Jerome Ravn "Jerry" Juhl (July 27, 1938 – September 26, 2005) was an American television and movie writer, best known for his work with Jim Henson's "Muppets".

Juhl was born in St. Paul, Minnesota; his family moved to Menlo Park, California, when he was 14. He received a bachelor's degree in theater arts from San Jose State University in 1961 and worked on children's shows for local television stations while in college. He met Frank Oz when they both worked for the Oakland Recreation Department's Vagabond Puppet Theater as teenagers.^[1] The two later met Henson at a puppeteer gathering in California.^[2]

Juhl was recruited by Henson as a puppeteer and writer on Sam and Friends. He focused increasingly on writing as other puppeteers, such as Frank Oz, joined the Henson stable.

Juhl was the head writer on The Muppet Show. He also wrote for the television shows Fraggle Rock, and The Jim Henson Hour. He was involved in some capacity with all of the Muppet films from the first "Muppet Movie" in 1979 to "Muppets From Space" in 1999.^[2] According to Lisa Henson, "So much of the humour, irreverence, caring and heart began with Jerry. He was, in many ways, the real voice of the Muppets."^[3]

He appeared as himself in the 1981 documentary Of Muppets and Men: The Making of "The Muppet Show", the 1984 documentary Henson's Place, and the 1994 documentary The World of Jim Henson. In addition to being interviewed in all three, he also appeared in archival footage in the last two.

He was married to Susan Doerr Juhl and lived in Caspar, California. In his last few years he semi-retired from writing, but taught at local colleges and spoke at puppeteer conventions.^[2]

In August 2005 Juhl was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died five weeks later. He was cremated. His ashes are located at the Neptune Society Columbarium in San Francisco.^[4]

Awards

He co-wrote The Muppet Movie with Jack Burns, for which the two shared a Saturn Award nomination for Best Writing. He was nominated for a shared Emmy four times, for his writing on The Muppet Show, finally winning the award in 1981 for Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Program. He was also awarded for his work on The Jim Henson Hour (Outstanding Children's Program, 1989, 1990) and The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson (Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program, 1991). His work on A Muppet Family Christmas won him the WGA Award for Variety - Musical, Award, Tribute, Special Event.

Filmography

Jerry Juhl was the writer, unless otherwise mentioned.

• Sam and Friends (1955–1961, Muppeteer)
• The Cube (1969)
• Sesame Street (1969–1975)
• The Great Santa Claus Switch (1970)
• Tales from Muppetland: The Frog Prince (1972, Muppeteer for Taminella)
• The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1972)
• The Muppets Valentine Show (1974)
• The Muppet Show (writer 1976, head writer 1977-1981)
• Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977)
• The Muppets Go Hollywood (1979)
• The Muppet Movie (1979)
• The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
• Fraggle Rock (1983, writer and creative producer)
• Muppet Video: Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff (1985)
• Fozzie's Muppet Scrapbook (1985)
• The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986)
• A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)
• The Jim Henson Hour (1989, writer and co-producer)
• Living with Dinosaurs (1989, co-producer)
• The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992, screenplay, co-producer)
• Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
• Muppets from Space (1999)

References

1. ^ International Puppet Museum: Lettie Connell Schuburt
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Jerry Juhl, 67, Award-Winning Head Writer for Muppet Shows, Is Dead". New York Times. October 9, 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/obituaries/09juhl.html. Retrieved July 17, 2011. 
3. ^ "Jerry Juhl: Puppeteer behind the witty dialogue of the Muppet Show". The Guardian. October 12, 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/oct/12/usnews.guardianobituaries. Retrieved July 17, 2011. 
4. ^ findagrave.com

External links

• Jerry Juhl at the Internet Movie Database
• An interview with Jerry Juhl
• A tribute to Jerry Juhl at IGN FilmForce
• A tribute to Jerry Juhl at Jim Hill Media

Persondata
Name	Juhl, Jerry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 27, 1938
Place of birth	St. Paul, Minnesota
Date of death	Sept. 27, 2005
Place of death	San Francisco,California