Jerry Juhl was Muppets' soul

Jerry Juhl, the Emmy Award-winning former head writer for the Muppets who provided much of the heart and soul to Jim Henson's iconic troupe of fleece and foam puppets, has died. He was 67.

Mr. Juhl, who also co-wrote most of the Muppet feature films and wrote for "Sesame Street" during its early years, died of cancer Sept. 27 in a San Francisco hospital, said Arthur Novell, executive director of the Jim Henson Legacy. Mr. Juhl, who was semiretired, lived in the California town of Caspar.

Mr. Juhl co-wrote "The Muppet Movie," which marked the Muppets' move to the big screen in 1979. He later wrote the screenplay for "The Muppet Christmas Carol" and co-wrote "The Great Muppet Caper," "Muppet Treasure Island" and "Muppets From Space."

He also was head writer and creative producer on the award-winning "Fraggle Rock," Henson's TV series about a race of small creatures that live underground.

"So much of the humor, irreverence, caring and heart that has been central to our work for 50 years began with Jerry Juhl," Lisa Henson, co-chief executive of the Jim Henson Co., said in a statement. "He was — in many ways — the real voice of the Muppets and of every project from the Jim Henson Company."

Frank Oz, the director and veteran Muppet performer whose characters include Miss Piggy, said Mr. Juhl "brought tremendous soul" to the Muppets.

"He was the person responsible really for the heart of the Muppets," Oz said. "He just knew the characters better than anybody else. He was brilliant because he could be funny but not nasty. He always saw the affection between the characters.

"Nobody else could do that kind of writing. ... He was the Muppet writer."

Born in St. Paul, Minn., in 1938, Mr. Juhl fell in love with puppetry at age 9. His passion continued after his family moved to Menlo Park, Calif., when he was 14.

As a theater-arts major at San Jose State University, he was a puppeteer on a local children's TV show. He also served as director of the Vagabond Puppet Theater, a traveling three-person puppet theater. There, he was joined by the teenage Oz, a budding puppeteer.

In 1961, after Mr. Juhl and Oz met Muppet creator Henson and his wife, Jane, at a puppeteer convention, Mr. Juhl joined the Hensons on their local TV show in Washington, D.C., "Sam and Friends."

As the Muppets gained increasing national television exposure, he worked closely with Henson in developing sketches that were performed on "The Jimmy Dean Show" and other television variety shows. Mr. Juhl eventually made the transition to writing exclusively.

"I did it for self-protection," he joked. "I never rated much [as a puppeteer], so I figured I'd better save my job by doing something else."

With the 1969 launch of "Sesame Street," Mr. Juhl spent six seasons as a writer on the classic children's show, during which he received two Emmy Awards.

From 1977 to 1981, he served as head writer of "The Muppet Show," the syndicated variety show featuring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and dozens of other characters.

He received an Emmy in 1981 for the popular "Dance Marathon" episode featuring Carol Burnett.

Mr. Juhl is survived by his wife of 40 years, Susan, and his brother, Phil.