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"Jane Nebel Henson, who co-created the Muppets with former husband Jim Henson, has died aged 78. Henson passed away at her home in Connecticut on Tuesday (April 2) following a long battle with cancer, the Jim Henson Company has confirmed.  Born Jane Ann Nebel in New York City on June 16, 1934, she trained in fine art and met Jim Henson in a puppetry class at the University of Maryland.  The two worked together on Sam and Friends - which featured some early Muppets characters including Kermit - during the latter half of the 1950s. They became romantically involved after Jim returned from a trip to Europe, and married in 1959. Jane worked as an art teacher and took personal responsibility for scouting, hiring and supporting many of the Jim Henson Company&amp;#039;s top puppeteers.  Jane remained involved with the Jim Henson Company after the couple legally separated in 1986.  She sat on the board of the Jim Henson Foundation - launched in 1982 to support puppetry as an art form - and established the Jim Henson Legacy in 1992, two years after her former husband&amp;#039;s death. She is survived by five children, including Cheryl, the current president of the Jim Henson Foundation. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/news/a470098/jane-henson-muppets-co-creator-dies-aged-78/>