“There must be a lot of shy actor in puppeteering. His work is the puppeteer's statement. It's his outlet. If I had to face the audience myself, as Jim Henson, I'm sure I'd be just a bit shy. But when it's your puppets that face the audience, it's different. That I can do very easily.”

—  Jim Henson

In response to Don Freeman's question: "Is the puppeteer a shy actor?"
Interview with Copley News Service (1976)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "There must be a lot of shy actor in puppeteering. His work is the puppeteer's statement. It's his outlet. If I had to f…" by Jim Henson?
Jim Henson photo
Jim Henson 78
American puppeteer 1936–1990

Related quotes

Julie Taymor photo
Julie Taymor photo

“I would never do something with just puppets. . . But I like the things puppets allow you to do.”

Julie Taymor (1952) American film and theatre director

As quoted in "New York at Work; Puppeteer Creates Shows for Grown-Ups" by N. R. Kleinfield The New York Times (2 July 1991)
Context: I would never do something with just puppets... But I like the things puppets allow you to do. I had this puppet Dinah Donewell, and she had this hand puppet named Mr. Pleaser. He was her lap dog who was constantly under her skirt. Now if you did that with actors, people would be offended. But in this case, so what? It was a puppet with a puppet.

Arthur Koestler photo

“A puppet of the Gods is a tragic figure, a puppet suspended on his chromosomes is merely grotesque.”

Arthur Koestler (1905–1983) Hungarian-British author and journalist

Epilogue
The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe (1959)
Context: The uomo universale of the Renaissance, who was artist and craftsman, philosopher and inventor, humanist and scientist, astronomer and monk, all in one, split up into his component parts. Art lost its mythical, science its mystical inspiration; man became again deaf to the harmony of the spheres. The Philosophy of Nature became ethically neutral, and "blind" became the favourite adjective for the working of natural law. The space-spirit hierarchy was replaced by the space-time continuum.... man's destiny was no longer determined from "above" by a super-human wisdom and will, but from "below" by the sub-human agencies of glands, genes, atoms, or waves of probability.... they could determine his fate, but could provide him with no moral guidance, no values and meaning. A puppet of the Gods is a tragic figure, a puppet suspended on his chromosomes is merely grotesque.

Alan Moore photo

“We’re all puppets, Laurie. I’m just a puppet who can see the strings.”

Source: Doctor Manhattan, in Watchmen #9 (referring to Doctor Manhattans's theory of time)

Jim Henson photo

“Frankly, I'm a lot more comfortable if I'm wearing a puppet.”

Jim Henson (1936–1990) American puppeteer

Interview with Copley News Service (1976)

Julie Taymor photo

“Puppets really are the origin of theater. Even the shadow on the wall of Plato's cave was a puppet. The very first actor was some kind of hand creating some kind of animal.”

Julie Taymor (1952) American film and theatre director

Academy of Achievement interview (2006)
Context: You know, we still hear the word "puppet" and we get this nauseating image of some kind of Muppet or something. Puppets really are the origin of theater. Even the shadow on the wall of Plato's cave was a puppet. The very first actor was some kind of hand creating some kind of animal.

Amitabh Bachchan photo
Sam Harris photo

“A puppet is free as long as he loves his strings.”

Source: Free Will

Bob Dylan photo

“It sure do bother me to see my loved ones turning into puppets.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Song lyrics, Slow Train Coming (1979), Slow Train

Related topics