Muppets creator Jim Henson’s son John Henson has died of a heart attack at the age of 48.
John Paul Henson died at home on February 14, representatives for the Jim Henson Company said.
He was a shareholder and board member of the Jim Henson Company and was a puppeteer for The Muppets, playing the role of Sweetums between 1992 and 2003.
Jim Henson died in 1990 at age 53, and his wife Jane Henson, who helped create the Muppets, died last year.
Sweetums was an ogre who appeared in several films including Muppet Treasure Island and It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.
In a statement, the company said John Henson was with one of his daughters when he died.
He is survived by four siblings, his wife and two daughters, aged 15 and 10.
A private funeral service is being planned.
On the Jim Henson Company Facebook page, John Henson’s family wrote: “John had the deepest soul of any man alive; sensitive, artistic, and extremely compassionate, there was no limit to his love.”
