At the age of 90, the actor died Bob McGrath, one of the original cast members of the children’s program Sesame Street, created in 1969. This Sunday, December 4, the artist’s family announced his death through their Facebook page: “Hello, the McGrath family has sad news from share Our father, Bob McGrath, passed away today. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family.
Precisely, McGrath appeared in the first episode broadcast in 1969 where he played himself, human friend of the puppets of Sesame street.
Bob McGrath, as well as an actor, was a singer, musician and author of children’s books. Born in Illinois in June 1932, he stood out for his tenor voice from adolescence and in 1959 received a master’s degree in voice and music from the Manhattan School of Music.
A long and fruitful career
He made his television debut in 1960 as a singer on the Mitch Miller show, Sing along with Mitchon NBC, where he served for four seasons; during those years she sang in the children’s strip songs album pogoby cartoonist Walt Kelly.
He made several albums of Irish, Japanese and children’s music until he was cast do the voice of the character Bob Johnson, in the children’s program Sesame Streetin 1969 alongside Loretta Long, who played Susan Robinson.
Incidentally, McGrath made one of the longest-lasting human characters on the series, staying from 1969 to July 2016, which is a record 46 years on the show.
The face of Sesame Street
McGrath did not return to the series, but has become the public face of the show in several appearances in which he played the undisputed iconic role of the cycle. For the show’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2019, he performed a special by Sesame street for television.
In an interview, McGrath recalled his two favorite moments on Sesame Street.
The first was Sesame Street Christmas Evethe 1978 Christmas special, a program that included a recreation of The Wizard’s Gift, a story by O. Henry, where a young couple faces the challenge of buying gifts with little money and a lot of imagination; and the 1983 sequence, where he faced the death of the character called Mr. Hooper franklyplayed by his good friend Will Lee, who died a long time ago.
He was an artist with a special human warmth; for 38 years he collaborated as director of the Telemiraclean annual charity fundraising program in Saskatchewan, Canada. His last appearance was in 2015where he was awarded for his career.
Sesame streetwhose original name is sesame streetwas created by Jim Herson and first aired on November 10, 1969, on the public network NET (now PBS).
It is a children’s series, aimed at preschoolers, which has an educational and entertainment character and is a pioneer in this type of production.
The proposal is through puppets and animation it is teaching colors, letters, reading, elementary arithmetic and includes elements of humor that hooked adults and ended up being a program for the whole family. His characters, the Muppets, were also created by Jim Henson.
McGrath, married to Ann in 1958, had five children and eight grandchildren; in 2017, they moved to Norwood, New Jersey, where the actor passed away surrounded by his family.
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Source: Clarin
