John Henson, the son of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson, has died of a heart attack.

Henson, 48, died at home on 14 February, representatives for the Jim Henson Company said.

He was a shareholder and board member of the Jim Henson Company and was a puppeteer for The Muppets, playing the role of Sweetums between 1992 and 2003.

Jim Henson died in 1990 at age 53, and his wife Jane Henson, who helped create the Muppets, died last year.

Sweetums was an ogre who appeared in several films including Muppet Treasure Island and It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.

'Remarkably kind and generous'
In a statement, the company said John Henson was with one of his daughters when he died.

He is survived by four siblings, his wife and two daughters, aged 15 and 10.

A private funeral service is being planned.

On the Jim Henson Company Facebook page, John Henson's family wrote: "John had the deepest soul of any man alive; sensitive, artistic, and extremely compassionate, there was no limit to his love."

A close friend of the family, Arthur Novell described John as "a most remarkably kind and generous man who gave so much and asked for so little. He infused us with the light of his inquisitive mind, the spirit of his keen intellect and the genius of his talent to create".

He added: "John will forever be remembered and cherished and talked about and somewhere in the universe he will be rejoiced."