Wendy Froud

American artist

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.

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

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.

After graduating, Froud moved to New York City, where The Muppets art director Michael Frith attended a gallery show of her dolls and bought several as a Christmas presents for Jim Henson in 1978. She went on to work on several other Henson projects including The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie, and Labyrinth. 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. 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." Froud later became referred to as "the mother of Yoda". controlling the pointed ears. Wendy Froud worked on the 2009 animated documentary Mythic Journeys, sculpting and fabricating puppets based on designs by her husband Brian Froud. Froud served as a concept, character, and costume designer for the 2019 Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.