Roscoe Orman
Encyclopedia
Roscoe Hunter Orman is an American
actor
who plays Gordon Robinson on the television program
Sesame Street
. Orman joined the show in 1973, taking over as the third actor to play Gordon on the show (subsequent to Matt Robinson, 1969–1972, and Hal Miller, 1972–1973). Beyond his role on Sesame Street, Orman is an accomplished stage
, film
and television
actor, children’s book writer
, artist
, and child advocate
.
Orman made his theatrical debut as a teenager in the 1962 topical revue "If We Grow Up". He was an early member of the Free Southern Theater for two years in the mid-sixties and a founding member of Harlem, New York's New Lafayette Theatre, where he acted in and directed numerous plays. His many other stage appearances have included roles in "Julius Caesar" and "Coriolanus" at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre, the Broadway production of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winning play "Fences", and Matt Robison's one-man play "The Confessions of Stepin Fetchit" at the American Place Theatre, to name a few.
Orman made his feature film debut in the title role of Universal Studios
1973 drama, Willie Dynamite
, and has also appeared in such films as F/X
, Striking Distance
, New Jersey Drive
, Follow That Bird, Twilight's Last Gleaming
, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
, and "Jeremy Fink And The Meaning of Life". His television credits include work on such shows as All My Children
, Kojak
, Sanford and Son
[on which he played a bank robber], Cosby
, Sex and the City
, The Wire
, and Law & Order
.
In June 2006, Orman's memoir Sesame Street Dad: Evolution of An Actor was released. In September 2007, his children's book Ricky and Mobo was released.
On October 8, 2008, Orman became the Chief Storyteller of AudibleKids.com (a service of Audible.com), a website for parents, teachers, and children to connect with one another and download and listen to audiobooks on iPod
s, MP3
players, and computer
s. In his role as Chief Storyteller, Orman narrates audiobooks and communicates with children, parents and teachers online and at community, literacy and library events, lectures and conferences, and via other media to encourage the use of audiobooks to help build an interest in reading and develop literacy skills. He commented on being Chief Storyteller on October 8, 2008: “When Sesame Street began, television was a new and even controversial medium. But we showed how that technology, if used correctly, could become a powerful learning tool…I see the same kind of opportunity emerging today as parents and educators increasingly view iPods with skepticism. With AudibleKids.com, I believe we can help turn these players into magnificent storytellers, tools for learning, and a way to promote a lifelong love of stories and language.”
Orman’s new role was announced at a community event at The Educational Alliance Boys & Girls Club in New York City, where Mayor
Michael Bloomberg’s
office commended Orman’s life work and willingness to embrace new technology to help encourage children to read books, by naming October 8, 2008 AudibleKids Day in New York City
.
Orman is a resident of New Jersey. He has four children, Rasheda, Solana, Miles, and Cheyenne. His son, Miles Orman
, was on Sesame Street
playing Gordon and Susan's adopted son Miles Robinson from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who plays Gordon Robinson on the television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
. Orman joined the show in 1973, taking over as the third actor to play Gordon on the show (subsequent to Matt Robinson, 1969–1972, and Hal Miller, 1972–1973). Beyond his role on Sesame Street, Orman is an accomplished stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actor, children’s book writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, and child advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
.
Orman made his theatrical debut as a teenager in the 1962 topical revue "If We Grow Up". He was an early member of the Free Southern Theater for two years in the mid-sixties and a founding member of Harlem, New York's New Lafayette Theatre, where he acted in and directed numerous plays. His many other stage appearances have included roles in "Julius Caesar" and "Coriolanus" at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre, the Broadway production of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winning play "Fences", and Matt Robison's one-man play "The Confessions of Stepin Fetchit" at the American Place Theatre, to name a few.
Orman made his feature film debut in the title role of Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
1973 drama, Willie Dynamite
Willie Dynamite
Willie Dynamite is a 1974 blaxploitation film starring Roscoe Orman, Joyce Walker, Thalmus Rasulala, and Diana Sands. Willie Dynamite is a pimp in NYC who strives to be number one in the city...
, and has also appeared in such films as F/X
F/X
F/X is a 1986 American action-thriller film about Rollie Tyler , an expert in the art of special effects with a reputation built by his work on many low-budget hack-and-slash films such as I Dismember Mama...
, Striking Distance
Striking Distance
Striking Distance is a 1993 thriller starring Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, and Tom Sizemore as Pittsburgh Police officers pursuing a serial killer. It was directed by Rowdy Herrington and written by Herrington and Marty Kaplan...
, New Jersey Drive
New Jersey Drive
New Jersey Drive is a 1995 film about black youths in Newark, New Jersey, the official "car theft capital of the world". Their favorite pastime is that of everybody in their neighborhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts when they steal a police car and the cops launch a violent...
, Follow That Bird, Twilight's Last Gleaming
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Twilight's Last Gleaming is a 1977 film directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark.Loosely based on a 1971 novel, Viper Three by Walter Wager, it tells the story of Lawrence Dell, a renegade USAF general, who escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo...
, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland is the second theatrical feature-length film starring the cast of the popular U.S. children's series Sesame Street...
, and "Jeremy Fink And The Meaning of Life". His television credits include work on such shows as All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, Kojak
Kojak
Kojak is an American television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, bald New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak. It aired from October 24, 1973, to March 18, 1978, on CBS. It took the time slot of the popular Cannon series, which was moved one hour earlier...
, Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
[on which he played a bank robber], Cosby
Cosby
Cosby is a situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program starred Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashād...
, Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
, The Wire
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
, and Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
.
In June 2006, Orman's memoir Sesame Street Dad: Evolution of An Actor was released. In September 2007, his children's book Ricky and Mobo was released.
On October 8, 2008, Orman became the Chief Storyteller of AudibleKids.com (a service of Audible.com), a website for parents, teachers, and children to connect with one another and download and listen to audiobooks on iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
s, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
players, and computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s. In his role as Chief Storyteller, Orman narrates audiobooks and communicates with children, parents and teachers online and at community, literacy and library events, lectures and conferences, and via other media to encourage the use of audiobooks to help build an interest in reading and develop literacy skills. He commented on being Chief Storyteller on October 8, 2008: “When Sesame Street began, television was a new and even controversial medium. But we showed how that technology, if used correctly, could become a powerful learning tool…I see the same kind of opportunity emerging today as parents and educators increasingly view iPods with skepticism. With AudibleKids.com, I believe we can help turn these players into magnificent storytellers, tools for learning, and a way to promote a lifelong love of stories and language.”
Orman’s new role was announced at a community event at The Educational Alliance Boys & Girls Club in New York City, where Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Michael Bloomberg’s
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
office commended Orman’s life work and willingness to embrace new technology to help encourage children to read books, by naming October 8, 2008 AudibleKids Day in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Orman is a resident of New Jersey. He has four children, Rasheda, Solana, Miles, and Cheyenne. His son, Miles Orman
Miles Orman
Miles Orman played Miles Robinson on Sesame Street from 1985 to 1992. He is the son of Roscoe Orman, who plays Miles Robinson's adopted father Gordon....
, was on Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
playing Gordon and Susan's adopted son Miles Robinson from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s.
External links
- Interview from Wisconsin Public TelevisionWisconsin Public TelevisionWisconsin Public Television is a state network of public television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Extension...
with Roscoe Orman—the actor talks about his career and experiences playing Gordon Robinson on Sesame Street. - Roscoe Orman Interview in the Archive of American Television
- Interview 'Sesame Street' star is an accidental role model - Associated Press
- Roscoe Orman Official Website - RoscoeOrman.com