Jim did not distinguish between his work and home life and often included his colleagues when planning family vacations, particularly once The Muppet Show production began, keeping him away from home for months at a time. The summer of 1976 was busy with the taping of the first half of Season 1, but Jim managed to fit in some vacation days. He had gotten a taste for sea travel that May with a trans-Atlantic trip on the Queen Elizabeth II with Jane and The Muppet Show core production team. Chartering a considerably smaller boat in July, Jim arranged for a vacation for his family and invited along performers Richard Hunt and Peter Friedman and his secretary and talent coordinator Caryl Starling. They started in Athens and visited a range of sites around Greece. Jim had to head back to London for the Lena Horne episode which started taping on July 13th, but his family was able to continue on to Italy for further sightseeing. Clearly, it was an enjoyable type of vacation – in 1979, the Henson family spent a week sailing on the trimaran “Wanderlust” around the British Virgin Islands.
Richard Hunt and John Henson on a sailboat in Greece, 1976.
Brian Henson on the Henson family Greek sailing vacation, 1976.
Jane, Heather and John Henson among Grecian ruins, 1976.
