Wendy Froud

Wendy Froud (née Midener; born 1954) is an American doll-artist, sculptor, puppet-maker, and writer. She is best known for her work fabricating Yoda for the 1980 film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, for which she has been called "the mother of Yoda", and creatures for the Jim Henson films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Early life Froud was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1954 to painter and 3D-collage artist Margaret "Peggy" (née Mackenzie; 1925–2016) and sculptor and artist Walter Midener (1912–1998). Her father was a German expatriate and her mother was from Detroit. Froud began making her own dolls from the age of five based on her favorite stories, including "lots of fauns, satyrs, centaurs and things with wings" from Greek mythology and fairy tales. She studied art and music at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. She attended the College of Art and Design at the Center for Creative Studies, focused on fabric design and ceramics. She graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts in 1976.