Marianne Harms (1913–1988), formerly known as Marianne Appel, was an artist and puppet designer/builder who worked for The Jim Henson Company during the 1970s and early 1980s. She created many of the more meticulous and detailed puppets for Henson projects.
Before Henson, she was well known (under her maiden name) as a painter, including of murals for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. She and her first husband, artist Austin Mecklem, were residents of the artists' colony in Woodstock, New York. Her works were displayed and reside in the collections of several museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Harms later worked as an illustrator and as a puppet designer/builder in the Bil Baird workshop before joining Henson.
Muppet/Henson credits[]
- The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence: Costumes
- The Muppet Show: Muppet designer; built Gaffer
- Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas: puppets; built atmospheric water fowl
- John Denver & the Muppets: A Christmas Together
- The Dark Crystal: Creature fabrication unit for the Podlings
- Fraggle Rock (season 1)
