Trivia: British actor David Buck began his theatrical career while studying at Cambridge and made his professional debut in the early 1950s with London's English Stage Company; following that he worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Buck also appeared in films, on television, and wrote and adapted radio plays.

Trivia: For as long as he could remember, Mississippi born Jim Henson was a devoted fan of puppeteers and ventriloquists; his idols included Edgar Bergen, Burr Tillstrom and Bil and Cora Baird. While attending high school in Maryland (where his meteorologist father had been relocated), Henson was hired for the staff of the Washington, D.C. kiddy show Sam and His Friends. By the time he was a freshman at the University of Maryland, the lanky, goateed Henson was in charge of the TV show's puppets, with his future wife Jane Nebel as his assistant. It was during the Washington years that Henson hit upon the concept of the Muppet: part marionette, part puppet. His most popular character was Kermit the Frog, whom Henson fashioned out of his mom's overcoat in 1959. TV commercial appearances by the Muppets led to guest stints on The Jack Paar Show, The Today Show, The Tonight Show, and The Jimmy Dean Show. While Henson and his partner Frank Oz handled the voices for most of the characters, the ever-expanding Muppet cast required a retinue of willing (and quick-witted) assistants. Henson's first taste of movie-making was the Oscar-nominated 1965 short Timepiece, but at the time he preferred television to films. In 1969, the Muppets became a regular feature on the spectacularly popular PBS daily Sesame Street, which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse for Henson: his characters were now highly marketable, but he was being perceived as exclusively a "children's entertainer." As such, he lost a lot of adult-oriented assignments. This "kiddy" onus prevented ABC from picking up Henson's half-hour The Muppet Show in 1975, whereupon Henson offered the program to syndication. As a result, The Muppet Show became one of the biggest non-network hits in TV history, as well as a great international success. Capitalizing on the popularity of "star" muppets Kermit and Miss Piggy, Henson and his staff concocted the 1979 all-star feature film The Muppet Movie, which made scads of money. With 1981's The Great Muppet Caper, Henson made his feature film directorial debut; he would later direct Labyrinth (1986), and with Frank Oz, co-direct The Dark Crystal (1982). After many years of avoiding Saturday morning network TV, Henson collaborated with Marvel Studios on the weekly cartoon series Muppet Babies (1984), which added more Emmy awards to his already top-heavy trophy shelf; less successful was the 1986 animated version of Henson's HBO series Fraggle Rock. During the late '80s, Henson expanded his activities to designing "creatures" for other producer's projects, notably the 1990 movie blockbuster Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In May of 1990, Henson was poised to sell his Muppet empire to Disney Studios. Suddenly stricken with streptococcus pneumonia, Jim Henson checked himself into New York Hospital, where he died a few days later at the age of 53. The Muppet operation was taken over by Jim Henson's son Brian Henson.

Trivia: Worked for American Airlines and Hewlett Packard as an industrial designer. Met famed puppeteer Frank Oz at the 1972 New York Puppetry Festival, which led to him beginning to attend tapings of Sesame Street. Joined the roster of Muppets performers in 1974 after meeting Jim Henson and providing the puppeteer with his portfolio. Created the character the Great Gonzo, who made his first appearance in 1975 in the inaugural season of The Muppet Show. Created a variety of different Muppets characters during his puppetry career, including the Muppet Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Fraggle Rock lead character Boober Fraggle. Dubbed his voice to provide singing for the Ben Folds Five music video "Do It Anyway."

Trivia: Puppeteer and voice actress for The Muppet Show. Founder and lead pipeteteer for satirical television show Spitting Image. Starred in many London West End shows, from The Pirates of Penzance to Anything Goes, Kiss Me Kate, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Oliver!

Trivia: Character actor Barry Dennen works primarily on stage and British TV.

Trivia: At age 11, wrote a letter about puppetmaking to his future boss, Jim Henson, and received a personal reply encouraging him to stick with puppeteering. Had his big break at age 19 after impressing Caroll Spinney at a puppetry festival which led to an interview with Jim Henson. Had his first and only musical writing credit, on the TV show Fraggle Rock, after the composer for the show found out that he was an amateur musician. Spent a year of intensive work at a local humane society outside of Atlanta in 1987. Was handpicked to take over the puppets Kermit the Frog and Ernie after the death of Jim Henson in 1990. Serves on the board of the Shambala Preserve, Tippi Hedren's big cat animal preserve.

Trivia: Born in Hereford, England, Frank Oz (born Frank Oznowicz) graduated from California's Oakland City College during 1962 and joined the humans behind Jim Henson's fledgling Muppet group as a puppeteer the following year. He was part of the first-season cast of Saturday Night Live as the Mighty Favag and appeared in The Blues Brothers with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. After The Muppet Show went on the air in 1976, Oz became vice president of the Henson organization, and was responsible for the portrayals of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Animal, among other characters, earning three Emmy Awards for his work on the show. He later served as a producer for The Great Muppet Caper (1980), directed by Henson, with whom he co-directed The Dark Crystal a year later. He later directed The Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984. Two years later, with Henson in the director's chair, Oz was one of the voices in Labyrinth. Moving outside of Henson's orbit, Oz directed the screen version of the musical Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), What About Bob? (1991), and the Kevin Kline vehicle In & Out (1997). He also served as the voice of Yoda in five Star Wars movies: The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. He helmed the 1999 showbiz satire Bowfinger, and two years later directed Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando in the crime drama The Score. He continued to voice various Muppet characters in a number of projects, but also maintained his directorial career with the comedies The Stepford Wives, and the original Death at a Funeral.