One of the original stars of Sesame Street has passed away at the 90.
Bob McGrath was one of just four cast members hired for the pilot of the children’s TV show when it aired in 1969, and continued with the show for 47 seasons.
News of the actor’s death was shared by the family on his official Facebook page.
“Our father Bob McGrath, passed away today. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family,” said the post.
After appearing on over 150 episodes of the show. numerous specials, direct to video movies, and two feature films, McGrath finally stopped acting on Sesame Street with his last episode entitled Having a Ball in 2017.
McGrath conducted lessons for children through his puppeteering and also wrote original sons for the production including People in Your Neighbourhood, Sing a Song, If You’re Happy And You Know It and the Sesame Street theme song.
McGrath played a character named Bob alongside Matt Robinson as Gordon, Loretta Long as Susan and Will Lee as Mr. Hooper when he began on the show.
“We’ve always looked at children as just short people,” McGrath told the Sun-Times in 1998. “We’ve never talked down to them.”
“The kids we were meant to reach, I think we’ve reached,” McGrath added. “They’ve grown up. They’re in their 30s now. They have kids of their own, our Sesame Seeds, and they come up to me and say, ‘Thank you very much. It made a major difference in our lives.”‘
Image credits: Getty Images
This article first appeared on OverSixty.