Kermit T. Frog (voice of Jim Henson) is a simple, honest frog from the swamps of Georgia who came to Hollywood to seek his fortune.

Kermit's girlfriend is Miss Piggy (voice of Frank Oz), a determined young swine who hopes one day she and her little "Kermie" will be wed (whether Kermit liked it or not).

Measuring two-feet tall from head to toe, Kermit is a basic hand puppet with rod controls for arm and leg movements. Henson's right hand fitted inside Kermit's head.

The first Kermit puppet was made from cloth from an old green coat owned by his mother and some ping-pong balls used for eyes.

The Kermit character first appeared in 1956 on a local Washington, D.C. program called SAM & FRIENDS, created by Jim Henson and his wife, Jane Nebel.

In 1957, he starred in a commercial spot entitled "Cannon Shot" created by the M. Belmont ver Standig Inc. ad agency for the Wilkins Instant Coffee.

Kermit also appeared as a roving frog reporter "Hi, ho, Kermit the Frog here" on skits performed on the children's program SESAME STREET/PBS/1969+; on guest appearances on the TODAY program; and as part of the original line-up on NBC's SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE when it premiered on October 11, 1975.

Kermit really made it big as the master of ceremonies of the variety program THE MUPPET SHOW/SYN/1976-81 where he was the calm amidst the storm of a number of crazy creatures.

He later starred in a series of successful muppet movies beginning with The Muppet Movie (1979), when Kermit left his home in Georgia to find fame in the glittering town of Hollywood. The song "Rainbow Connection" (sung by Kermit) from the same movie became a popular hit record.

Sequel movies included The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) when Kermit married Miss Piggy.

The Saturday morning cartoon series THE MUPPET BABIES/CBS/1984-92 featured Kermit as very young frog in a nursery filled with other Muppet babies supervised by a nanny.

Sadly, the original voice of Kermit was laid to rest with the death of his creator, Jim Henson who died of complication due to pneumonia in May 16, 1990.

Kermit the Frog later appeared on the July, 1990 cover of Life magazine. In 1992, Pocket Books published Kermit's first book for adults entitled One Frog Can Make A Difference: Kermit's Guide To Life In The '90s, with chapters like "I'm Okay, You're a Pig" and "Frogs Who Hop With Women Who Run With Wolves But Can't Keep Up."

TRIVIA NOTE: On a 1998 "In the year 2000" comedy skit on LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, Conan prophesied "In the year 2000 after 23 years, Kermit the Frog will leave Miss Piggy when he converts to Judaism and can no longer eat pork."