Wendy Froud

Froud was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1954[3] to artist Walter Midener and collage artist Margaret "Peggy" Midener (1925-2016).[4][5] She studied art and music at Interlochen Center for the Arts[4] before attending the Center for Creative Studies' College of Art and Design, where she graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts with a focus on fabric design and ceramics.[3][6]

Froud began her professional career in 1978 as a puppet-maker, designer and sculptor for the Jim Henson Studios in New York, where, after receiving one of her dolls as a Christmas gift from The Muppets art director, Jim Henson had invited her to work on his latest film project, The Dark Crystal.[3][6] Froud designed and sculpted the film's two main protagonists, gelflings Jen and Kira.[7] She went on to work on a number of other Henson projects including The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie and Labyrinth.[3][8]

While working closely with Jim Henson and Frank Oz on various projects at the Henson Studios, Froud was asked by the pair to join the team responsible for developing and building the character Yoda for the 1980 Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back.[8] According to Froud, her contribution included making the prototype puppet for Yoda.[9] Nick Maley, who worked on Yoda with Froud under Stuart Freeborn, recalled that "Wendy’s contribution creating the character was second only to Stuart who was overseeing ALL the creatures. She single handedly formed the body out of 1 inch sheet foam. She constructed the puppet armature from wooden dowel which gave structure to Yoda’s arms and legs. If I remember correctly, she modeled Yoda’s hands and feet and single handedly fabricated the “stand-in Yoda”, made entirely from cut foam, which was used to line up shots during camera setup. I do remember her spending some time working on the clay model of Yoda's head too."[10] Froud later became referred to as "the mother of Yoda".[1]

Wendy Froud worked on the 2009 animated documentary Mythic Journeys, sculpting and fabricating puppets based on designs by her husband Brian Froud.[11]

Her most recent work has been serving as a concept, character and costume designer for the 2019 Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.[12][13]

Froud lives and works in Devon with her husband Brian Froud, whom she met in 1978 while working on The Dark Crystal, for which Brian was the conceptual designer.[4][11] The couple married on 31 May 1980, in Chagford.[14][15] Their son Toby is a visual artist, performance artist, and filmmaker.[16] He starred in his first motion picture when he was still a toddler, playing Sarah's baby brother "Toby" in Labyrinth. Through her son, Froud has one grandson, Sebastian.[5]

Froud's artwork is featured in three books for children, paired with stories by fantasy author Terri Windling: A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale (1999), The Winter Child (2001), and The Faeries of Spring Cottage (2003).[4] Her first solo art book, The Art of Wendy Froud, was published in 2006 by Imaginosis.[22]

Froud is also a writer whose fiction has been published in two anthologies: Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers (1998)[23] and Troll's-Eye View (2009).[24][3] She collaborated as writer with her husband Brian Froud as illustrator on two books, The Heart of Faerie (2010) and Trolls (2012), both published by Abrams Books.[11]

Froud has been nominated for the Chesley Award for Best Three-Dimensional Art twice: in 2001 for her piece, "Goth Faery",[25] and in 2002 for "Narnia's Friend".[26] She has won 4th place in the Locus Award for Best Artbook with her husband twice: for Trolls in 2013,[27] and for Brian Froud's Faeries' Tales in 2015.[28]

Froud received a Lifetime Achievement award at the Portland Film Festival in 2015.[29][30]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wendy Froud.

• The World of Froud website
• Wendy Froud on IMDb