Brian David Henson was born in New York City, is the first born son of Jane Henson and Jim Henson. He has four siblings: Lisa, Cheryl, John, and Heather Henson. As a child, he made several cameo appearances in some of the filmed segments his father produced for the PBS children's series Sesame Street, most notably in various segments of the "Number Song Series." As he got older, he built the very first Muppet penguin puppet for the opening "Lullaby of Broadway" segment of a season three episode of The Muppet Show, guest starring Gilda Radner. During his summer break from high school in 1980, he assisted in the bicycle sequence from The Great Muppet Caper. He helped create and operate a special rigging device that was created to allow the Muppets to ride bicycles since he was skilled in the use of marionette puppets. A few years later, he similarly operated a marionette of Scooter riding a bicycle in The Muppets Take Manhattan.
Career
Film
During the 1980s, Henson performed Jack Pumpkinhead in Return to Oz, operated special effects for , and was a principal performer for the Audrey II puppet in Little Shop of Horrors, controlling mouth movement while others performed the lips and vines. In addition, he also performed the voice of Hoggle, one of the main characters in his father's film Labyrinth, and the Dog in both versions of The Storyteller. In 1992, Henson directed The Muppet Christmas Carol and directed the next film in the franchise, Muppet Treasure Island, in 1996. He performed the role of Dr. Phil van Neuter, the Muppet mad scientist in Muppets from Space. In 2018, he directed and produced The Happytime Murders, a puppet crime-comedy film for adult audiences.
Television
Henson was the executive producer for several television series: Dinosaurs, Aliens in the Family, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Farscape. In addition to an executive producer's role Henson played himself as the head judge on the 2014 reality TV showJim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge. He performed the roles of Janice and Scooter in the 2002 made-for-TV movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.
Other ventures
Henson is the co-creator, producer, and currently a performer in the adult-themed puppet-based variety show Puppet Up!, and played various characters from that variety show on the British program That Puppet Game Show. For 2001's "The Muppet Show Live", in addition to performing his own Muppet characters, Henson also performed one of his father's characters, The Muppet Newsman, for the first time. He reprised the role for the 2003 video game "Muppets Party Cruise".
Personal life
Henson married Ellis Flyte, costume designer for the 1986 fantasy adventure filmLabyrinth, in November 1990. They divorced in 2002. Since 2010, Henson has been married to actress Mia Sara. They have one child, a daughter born in 2005.
