The Robinson family
Encyclopedia
The Robinson family is a fiction
al family
on the children's television series
Sesame Street
. The family consists of husband Gordon, a schoolteacher, and his wife Susan, a nurse. Later, the family expands to include their adopted son Miles, as well as Gordon's sister Olivia, and his father Mr. Robinson. As African-Americans, the family was created as leads for the show, originally targeted to underprivileged inner-city children. Even as human roles were slowly reduced over the years, their characters maintained a constant presence.
wrote in the 1967 study The Potential Uses of Television in Preschool Education.
Especially before the inclusion of the Muppets
in Street scenes, Sesame Street was centered on Gordon and Susan. As per suggested by Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan
, Cooney advised in The Potential Uses that a series should feature a male lead, to "provide continuity from one segment to another, establish the tone, and function, subtly, as the master teacher." A male teacher would both encourage kids to emulate an intelligent adult, and "defeminize the early learning atmosphere." The decision to create such a character was backed up by research in the US government study The Negro Family: The Case for National Action
. Known better as the Moynihan report, Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan
suggested "the Negro community has been forced into a matriarchal structure which, because it is so out of line with the rest of the American society, seriously retards the progress of the group as a whole." His report suggested that, after the Slavery
-era of US history, the rise of out-of-wedlock births, absent fathers, and female-headed families only perpetuated cyclical poverty
.
In his memoirs, eventual Gordon actor Roscoe Orman commented that "what the character most significantly symbolizes, his most distinguishing and praiseworthy attribute, may lie in the simple fact that he is a man of African descent who for over three decades has been a respected and beloved father figure to young people of all races and all social classes all across America and beyond." He continues to say that while "born in a country that was founded and has continued to thrive upon the subjugation of his ancestors, he harbors no hatred or thirst for revenge but, on the contrary, is a model of patience, understanding, and civic responsibility who embraces all of humankind."
Orman went on to describe Susan as an "exemplary model of African-American womanhood" and the couple's on-going relationship "in sharp contrast to the prevailing images of black men that have been projected within mainstream American culture since and especially prior to Sesame Street’s premiere and certainly during the formative years of my own generation."
Feminists objected to the character of Susan because they felt she fulfilled stereotypes they were against, that of a stay-at-home wife. Historian Robert W. Morrow defends Susan's creators, stating that their goal was presenting Gordon as a strong black male capable of supporting his family. Sesame Street's producers responded to this criticism by making Susan a nurse during the show's second season, and by introducing Gordon's sister Olivia in 1977.
control this early on was and is unusual. Matt Robinson and Loretta Long
were chosen to play the lead roles of Gordon and Susan. However, an unidentified actor played Gordon in the pilot.
Loretta Long’s prior experience included hosting "Soul", a variety series on PBS. Initially, Long was a supply teacher for schools in the Bronx area, which reportedly surprised and confused many young students. Long earned her Ph.D.
in Urban Education in 1973 from the University of Massachusetts
, during the show's fourth season. Because Long had grown up on a farm in Michigan, the show's writers established that Susan had as well.
Matt Robinson, meanwhile, not only served as the "host" for the early episodes of the series—it was Gordon who was often seen greeting viewers and telling them to "come back and visit us anytime" -- but he was also credited as one of the show's producers during his time with the series.
While there were many references on the show to Gordon being a teacher, and there have continued to be references in recent seasons, Gordon is never actually shown in that environment. He instead would teach the characters lessons in the Children Television Workshop's four main focuses, much like every other character: Symbolic Representation, Cognitive Processes, the Physical Environment, and Social Environment.
had not yet risen to prominence. Cynthia Eaton and Susan Chase of the National Organization for Women
(NOW) studied the series, in particular male and female interaction. NOW insisted that the program marginalized women and their role in society.
"After they presented their observations and concerns about our institutionalizing stereotypes, Jon Stone
said 'Well, let's give Susan a career.'" Stone was the primary director
for the show. Susan became a public health nurse, who would run immunization clinics on Sesame Street. Gordon also was regularly shown helping Susan with household chores. Long recalled to Cooney in 1976 that, "I was too nice at the beginning, the great dispenser of milk and cookies." Some feminists still referred to her as a "a hapless, hopelessly vague mother", even after the change.
Even with the addition of Sonia Manzano
as the young, single woman Maria in the third season, critics still chided "All in all, Sesame Street has changed, from being incredibly sexist to being slightly less sexist" This view was helped by characters like Betty Lou, "a simpering, querulous little girl with pigtails and a squeaky voice".
, a purple Muppet meant to represent an African American boy. While the skits with the character musically provided reading and writing concepts, critics found his jive-talking to be a cultural stereotype, and the producers of the series removed him. Interestingly, Roscoe Orman provided the voice of one of Roosevelt's classmates, Hardhat Henry Harris, before joining the series as the third actor to play Gordon. The Roosevelt Franklin Muppet occasionally turned up in multi-Muppet musical routines such as "Clap, Clap, Clap" and the Canadian edition of Sesame Street continued to air the Franklin segments well into the early 1980s.
Hal Miller became Gordon for a brief stretch, 1972 to 1974. Unlike Matt Robinson, Miller didn't sport a moustache
, and was slightly heavier-set.
became the third Gordon in 1974, a role he has kept to this day. "The kids who were on the show that first season would not accept me as Gordon. One day there's Hal [Miller] as Gordon and the next day there's this new guy who says he's Gordon... the kids, both on the show and at home... they just assume that we are that person we're playing."
puppeteer Caroll Spinney
mentioned this to his wife Debra. The two went to producer Dulcy Singer
, suggesting that Gordon and Susan should have a child on the show. It was decided that the on-screen couple would adopt, instead of Susan being pregnant, and that new-born Miles Orman
take the role. At age seven, Miles Orman quit the series, and was replaced by child actor Imani Patterson
.
Before the series of episodes where Miles is adopted, Gordon and Susan lacked last names. "Robinson", named after original Gordon actor Matt Robinson, was shown as Miles' last name on his adoption certificate. Alternatively, Orman has suggested that the name was revealed in a different storyline aired in 1991, involving Gordon teaching in the classroom. Writers felt that the students couldn't address their teacher as "Gordon", so Orman suggested "Mr. Robinson".
Similarly, Mr. Hooper's first name was only revealed on his GED
, Bob Johnson's last name went unrevealed for years, and Gina Jefferson's last name first appeared on the door of her new veterinary practice, in 2002.
, Trash is an intergalactic traveller, who encounters odd creatures on each planet he visits. Trash Gordon escapes peril in each chapter, thanks to his quick thinking; when a living pile of rotten bananas confronts Trash, for example, it is soon chased away by an "Intergalactical Monkey" he happened to have with him.
By 2002, Imani Patterson left his role as Miles, and was replaced by actor Olamide Faison
. As a recording artist of the mildly successful hip-hop group Imajin
, Faison could be used more frequently as a singer on the series. Plot lines like season 36 episode 4089 focused on Miles singing numerous 1960s-style parody songs for American Fruitstand
.
In episode 4112 (2006), Miles graduated high school
alongside Gabi, despite the fact that the characters' respective births on the show occurred four years apart. A flashback in this episode also revealed that Miles was shy on his first day of kindergarten
.
Susan's appearances are few and far between since season 29 (1997-1998), although she still is a billed regular cast member. A great deal of this is due to the reduced number of episodes produced, just 65 compared to the original slates of 130, and the overall shrinkage of screen time for human actors on the series. Additionally, when they were introduced, Maria and Gina were both teens; they are now adults and can take on the motherly role to the Muppets that was once Susan's.
Loretta Long and Bob McGrath
are the only two remaining non-puppeteer actors on Sesame Street from its first episode, as Gordon has switched actors, and Will Lee
(Mr. Hooper) died. While neither actor has appeared in a significant number of episodes in recent seasons, the longevity of their roles are with few precedents. Of the Muppets from the first episode—Big Bird
, Oscar the Grouch
, Kermit the Frog
, Cookie Monster
, and Bert and Ernie
—all except Kermit are still major characters on the show, but only Oscar is still regularly portrayed by the same puppeteer (Caroll Spinney
). Spinney has largely handed off Big Bird to Matt Vogel; Jim Henson
(Kermit, Ernie) has died, with Steve Whitmire
playing Ernie (Kermit no longer appears); and Frank Oz
, busy as a director, now only puppets Grover and Bert a couple of times each season (David Rudman
and Eric Jacobson
have largely taken over his characters).
), although the television special The Street We Live On included archive footage of her. Reed passed away of breast cancer on December 17, 2009, at the age 63.
In episode 4061 (season 35), Carl Gordon
played Mr. Robinson, Gordon's father.
Kevin Clash
played a grown-up version of Miles in episode 2313; Clash is a Muppeteer who portrays Elmo
on the show. In this episode, Miles has a son.
In one episode, circa 1975, Susan leaves the Street for a day to visit her mother, who has taken ill, in Merton, which according to Gordon, is a few hours from New York by plane and a short train ride after landing.
Susan's parents were seen in episode 2125 (season 17), in which they visited Gordon and Susan after they adopted Miles. They revisited the Street in episode 2226 (season 18), Gordon and Susan threw a party to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Miles' adoption, in which the event was reenacted with Big Bird
as Gordon, Snuffy
as Susan, and Elmo
as the adoption agent. Susan's father is Lee (played by Bill Cobbs
), and her mother is Dorothy (Frances Foster
). Her parents came back for another visit in episode 2820 (season 22), in which the short-lived character Preston Rabbit was also a guest at the Robinson's apartment.
Added to the show in 2007 was Gordon and Susan's nephew, Chris Robinson, played by actor Chris Knowings.
toy figures in 1975, nearly the only toys ever created of the human characters of Sesame Street; a Mr. Noodle
doll was created in the early 2000s. Gordon and Susan, as well as other humans on the series have been included in various books, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s.
During the early years, Susan often sang "One of These Things". She also headlined her own album, Susan Sings Songs from Sesame Street, and had minor roles in both Sesame Street movies.
Robinson and Long appeared in the original Sesame Street Live
touring production, while Orman and Long make occasional appearances in and out of character. In the summer of 2005, Orman appeared as Gordon with Kevin Clash
puppeteering Elmo at series sponsor Beaches Family Resorts in Jamaica
.
Long speaks on various topics, including "Children's Education and the Dynamics of Television on the Education of Young Children", "Cultural Diversity: The Sesame Street Method", "Happy Birthday Sesame Street: A Twenty-Five-Year Retrospective", "Mother the First Teacher and Home the First School", "Sesame Street: The Second Generation", "Sesame Street: A Space-Age Approach to Education for Space-Aged Children", "Susan of Sesame Street Sing-Along", "The ABC's of African-American History", and "Why Didn't Someone Tell Me? A Talk About Teaching in the Inner City".
In his memoirs, Orman recalls a meet-and-greet in the mid-1980s, after performing for an audience of 500 in a Topeka, Kansas
college auditorium. One little girl, who Orman estimates was aged seven or eight, approached him for a hug, a regular occurrence. He noticed her hug, wrapping around his neck, was "unusually ardent, [with an] almost desperate quality of… embrace". Orman later discovered that he was the first adult male she had been willing to approach, after being sexually abused by a family member, "some time ago".
Long has taught classes at Roan University, including "The Sesame Street Approach to Elementary Education".
The original Gordon, Matt Robinson, died 5 August 2002. As many fans didn't know there were "Gordons" before Roscoe Orman, and they didn't know Orman's name, rumor spread that it was Orman who died. Hal Miller's post-Sesame career included three movie appearances and one production credit; only one of the roles was named. Miles Orman now plays basketball for the Marist College
Red Foxes.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
on the children's television series
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
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...
. The family consists of husband Gordon, a schoolteacher, and his wife Susan, a nurse. Later, the family expands to include their adopted son Miles, as well as Gordon's sister Olivia, and his father Mr. Robinson. As African-Americans, the family was created as leads for the show, originally targeted to underprivileged inner-city children. Even as human roles were slowly reduced over the years, their characters maintained a constant presence.
Inception
Sesame Street was created, through private and federal grants, as a television series to "give the disadvantaged child a fair chance at the beginning," as co-creator Joan Ganz CooneyJoan Ganz Cooney
Joan Ganz Cooney is an American television producer. She is one of the founders of the Children's Television Workshop , the organization famous for the creation of the children's television show Sesame Street. Cooney received her B.A...
wrote in the 1967 study The Potential Uses of Television in Preschool Education.
Especially before the inclusion of the Muppets
The Muppets
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...
in Street scenes, Sesame Street was centered on Gordon and Susan. As per suggested by Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan
Jerome Kagan
Jerome Kagan was born in 1929, and grew up in Rahway, New Jersey, USA. Kagan is currently retired after being a professor at Harvard University in the Developmental program . He is one of the key pioneers of developmental psychology. He is Daniel and Amy Starch Research Professor of Psychology,...
, Cooney advised in The Potential Uses that a series should feature a male lead, to "provide continuity from one segment to another, establish the tone, and function, subtly, as the master teacher." A male teacher would both encourage kids to emulate an intelligent adult, and "defeminize the early learning atmosphere." The decision to create such a character was backed up by research in the US government study The Negro Family: The Case for National Action
The Negro Family: The Case For National Action
The Negro Family: The Case For National Action, also known as the Moynihan Report was written by then-sociologist and later U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and released in 1965...
. Known better as the Moynihan report, Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick "Pat" Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times . He declined to run for re-election in 2000...
suggested "the Negro community has been forced into a matriarchal structure which, because it is so out of line with the rest of the American society, seriously retards the progress of the group as a whole." His report suggested that, after the Slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
-era of US history, the rise of out-of-wedlock births, absent fathers, and female-headed families only perpetuated cyclical poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
.
In his memoirs, eventual Gordon actor Roscoe Orman commented that "what the character most significantly symbolizes, his most distinguishing and praiseworthy attribute, may lie in the simple fact that he is a man of African descent who for over three decades has been a respected and beloved father figure to young people of all races and all social classes all across America and beyond." He continues to say that while "born in a country that was founded and has continued to thrive upon the subjugation of his ancestors, he harbors no hatred or thirst for revenge but, on the contrary, is a model of patience, understanding, and civic responsibility who embraces all of humankind."
Orman went on to describe Susan as an "exemplary model of African-American womanhood" and the couple's on-going relationship "in sharp contrast to the prevailing images of black men that have been projected within mainstream American culture since and especially prior to Sesame Street’s premiere and certainly during the formative years of my own generation."
Feminists objected to the character of Susan because they felt she fulfilled stereotypes they were against, that of a stay-at-home wife. Historian Robert W. Morrow defends Susan's creators, stating that their goal was presenting Gordon as a strong black male capable of supporting his family. Sesame Street's producers responded to this criticism by making Susan a nurse during the show's second season, and by introducing Gordon's sister Olivia in 1977.
Casting
Actors were selected for the roles of Gordon, Susan, Bob, and Mr. Hooper by an audience of children who had watched videotaped performances. While some shows replace actors appearing in pilot episodes due to audience involvement, castingCasting
In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...
control this early on was and is unusual. Matt Robinson and Loretta Long
Loretta Long
Loretta Long is an American actress best known for playing Susan Robinson on Sesame Street, having starred on the show since its debut in 1969....
were chosen to play the lead roles of Gordon and Susan. However, an unidentified actor played Gordon in the pilot.
Loretta Long’s prior experience included hosting "Soul", a variety series on PBS. Initially, Long was a supply teacher for schools in the Bronx area, which reportedly surprised and confused many young students. Long earned her Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Urban Education in 1973 from the University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts
This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
, during the show's fourth season. Because Long had grown up on a farm in Michigan, the show's writers established that Susan had as well.
Matt Robinson, meanwhile, not only served as the "host" for the early episodes of the series—it was Gordon who was often seen greeting viewers and telling them to "come back and visit us anytime" -- but he was also credited as one of the show's producers during his time with the series.
1969–1971
Sesame Street’s first episode centers on Gordon taking a girl named Sally around Sesame Street, to get acquainted with everyone and everything in her new neighbourhood.While there were many references on the show to Gordon being a teacher, and there have continued to be references in recent seasons, Gordon is never actually shown in that environment. He instead would teach the characters lessons in the Children Television Workshop's four main focuses, much like every other character: Symbolic Representation, Cognitive Processes, the Physical Environment, and Social Environment.
Susan gets a job
From its inception, Sesame Street has been highly scrutinized by critics of all kinds. While the program was specially conceived to represent racial harmony, as suggested by followers of Dr. King, the "second-wave" feminist movementFeminist movement
The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
had not yet risen to prominence. Cynthia Eaton and Susan Chase of the National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
(NOW) studied the series, in particular male and female interaction. NOW insisted that the program marginalized women and their role in society.
"After they presented their observations and concerns about our institutionalizing stereotypes, Jon Stone
Jon Stone
Jon Stone is best known for writing and producing Sesame Street, and is credited with helping develop characters such as Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch. He is regarded by many as one of the best children's television writers. He started working for children's programs in 1955...
said 'Well, let's give Susan a career.'" Stone was the primary director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
for the show. Susan became a public health nurse, who would run immunization clinics on Sesame Street. Gordon also was regularly shown helping Susan with household chores. Long recalled to Cooney in 1976 that, "I was too nice at the beginning, the great dispenser of milk and cookies." Some feminists still referred to her as a "a hapless, hopelessly vague mother", even after the change.
Even with the addition of Sonia Manzano
Sonia Manzano
Sonia Manzano is an American actress and writer. She is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street since 1971. She also licenses her image to promote items of baby clothes and plates in Hispanic America....
as the young, single woman Maria in the third season, critics still chided "All in all, Sesame Street has changed, from being incredibly sexist to being slightly less sexist" This view was helped by characters like Betty Lou, "a simpering, querulous little girl with pigtails and a squeaky voice".
Hip Muppet deemed stereotype
Matt Robinson was, however, the voice of Roosevelt FranklinRoosevelt Franklin
Roosevelt Franklin was a Muppet featured on the children's television series Sesame Street during the early 1970s. He is purple with shaggy black hair that stands on end. His name is word play on the name of US President Franklin Roosevelt...
, a purple Muppet meant to represent an African American boy. While the skits with the character musically provided reading and writing concepts, critics found his jive-talking to be a cultural stereotype, and the producers of the series removed him. Interestingly, Roscoe Orman provided the voice of one of Roosevelt's classmates, Hardhat Henry Harris, before joining the series as the third actor to play Gordon. The Roosevelt Franklin Muppet occasionally turned up in multi-Muppet musical routines such as "Clap, Clap, Clap" and the Canadian edition of Sesame Street continued to air the Franklin segments well into the early 1980s.
1972–1973
Moustache
A moustache is facial hair grown on the outer surface of the upper lip. It may or may not be accompanied by a type of beard, a facial hair style grown and cropped to cover most of the lower half of the face.-Etymology:...
, and was slightly heavier-set.
1973 on
Roscoe OrmanRoscoe Orman
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...
became the third Gordon in 1974, a role he has kept to this day. "The kids who were on the show that first season would not accept me as Gordon. One day there's Hal [Miller] as Gordon and the next day there's this new guy who says he's Gordon... the kids, both on the show and at home... they just assume that we are that person we're playing."
Adopting Miles
In 1985, Roscoe Orman and his wife were about to have their second child together; Big BirdBig Bird
Big Bird is a protagonist of the children's television show Sesame Street. Big Bird, like many of the other Sesame Street characters, is a Muppet character. He is sometimes referred to simply as "Bird" by his friends....
puppeteer Caroll Spinney
Caroll Spinney
Caroll Edwin Spinney, sometimes credited as Carroll Spinney or Ed Spinney , is an American puppeteer most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on the children's television show Sesame Street.-Life and career:...
mentioned this to his wife Debra. The two went to producer Dulcy Singer
Dulcy Singer
Dulcy Singer served as an American television producer for Christmas Eve on Sesame Street in 1978 and as executive producer for Sesame Street from 1982-1995.She received her B.A...
, suggesting that Gordon and Susan should have a child on the show. It was decided that the on-screen couple would adopt, instead of Susan being pregnant, and that new-born 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....
take the role. At age seven, Miles Orman quit the series, and was replaced by child actor Imani Patterson
Imani Patterson
Imani Patterson was the second actor to play Miles Robinson on Sesame Street. He took over the role from Miles Orman in 1992 and played it for ten years before passing it on to Olamide Faison in 2002.- References :...
.
Before the series of episodes where Miles is adopted, Gordon and Susan lacked last names. "Robinson", named after original Gordon actor Matt Robinson, was shown as Miles' last name on his adoption certificate. Alternatively, Orman has suggested that the name was revealed in a different storyline aired in 1991, involving Gordon teaching in the classroom. Writers felt that the students couldn't address their teacher as "Gordon", so Orman suggested "Mr. Robinson".
Similarly, Mr. Hooper's first name was only revealed on his GED
GED
General Educational Development tests are a group of five subject tests which, when passed, certify that the taker has American or Canadian high school-level academic skills...
, Bob Johnson's last name went unrevealed for years, and Gina Jefferson's last name first appeared on the door of her new veterinary practice, in 2002.
Trash Gordon
Roscoe Orman has garnered more screen time since season 35, playing Trash Gordon at the end of each episode. Based on Flash GordonFlash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
, Trash is an intergalactic traveller, who encounters odd creatures on each planet he visits. Trash Gordon escapes peril in each chapter, thanks to his quick thinking; when a living pile of rotten bananas confronts Trash, for example, it is soon chased away by an "Intergalactical Monkey" he happened to have with him.
Recent appearances
Looking back on his role, over the last 33 years, Orman commented "If I could boast of no other major career accomplishment, having played a central role as I have in the development and continuation of this landmark series would alone have made my life sufficiently meaningful. The historical significance of Sesame Street and its surprising longevity have made my association with the show, in many regards, my life's crowning achievement." However, Orman doesn't credit Sesame Street as having defined himself personally and his overall career; The Free Southern Theater of New Orleans and The New Lafayette Theatre of Harlem collectively take that honor.By 2002, Imani Patterson left his role as Miles, and was replaced by actor Olamide Faison
Olamide Faison
Olamide Aladejobi Patrick Alexander Faison is an American actor. He plays Miles Robinson on the children's television show Sesame Street....
. As a recording artist of the mildly successful hip-hop group Imajin
Imajin (R&B group)
Imajin is an American R&B boy band that is known for their hit "Shorty " featuring Keith Murray. The group also made a version of this song with Mr. Cheeks of the rap group The Lost Boyz. This single peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 20 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart...
, Faison could be used more frequently as a singer on the series. Plot lines like season 36 episode 4089 focused on Miles singing numerous 1960s-style parody songs for American Fruitstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
.
In episode 4112 (2006), Miles graduated high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
alongside Gabi, despite the fact that the characters' respective births on the show occurred four years apart. A flashback in this episode also revealed that Miles was shy on his first day of kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
.
Susan's appearances are few and far between since season 29 (1997-1998), although she still is a billed regular cast member. A great deal of this is due to the reduced number of episodes produced, just 65 compared to the original slates of 130, and the overall shrinkage of screen time for human actors on the series. Additionally, when they were introduced, Maria and Gina were both teens; they are now adults and can take on the motherly role to the Muppets that was once Susan's.
Loretta Long and Bob McGrath
Bob McGrath
Robert Emmet "Bob" McGrath is an American singer and actor best known for playing the human character Bob on Sesame Street. He was born in Ottawa, Illinois. McGrath was named for Irish patriot Robert Emmet....
are the only two remaining non-puppeteer actors on Sesame Street from its first episode, as Gordon has switched actors, and Will Lee
Will Lee
Will Lee was an American actor best known for playing the store proprietor Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street, from the show's debut in 1969 until his death in 1982.-Early career:...
(Mr. Hooper) died. While neither actor has appeared in a significant number of episodes in recent seasons, the longevity of their roles are with few precedents. Of the Muppets from the first episode—Big Bird
Big Bird
Big Bird is a protagonist of the children's television show Sesame Street. Big Bird, like many of the other Sesame Street characters, is a Muppet character. He is sometimes referred to simply as "Bird" by his friends....
, Oscar the Grouch
Oscar the Grouch
Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character on the television program Sesame Street. He has a green body , has no nose , and lives in a trash can. His favorite thing in life is trash; evidence for this is the song "I Love Trash". A running theme is his compulsive hoarding of seemingly useless items...
, Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...
, Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating phrases: "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!", and "Om nom nom nom" . He often eats anything and everything, including danishes, donuts, lettuce, apples,...
, and Bert and Ernie
Bert and Ernie
Bert and Ernie are two muppets on the popular U.S. children's television show Sesame Street. The two appear together in numerous skits, forming a comic duo that is one of the centerpieces of the program. Originated by Frank Oz and Jim Henson, the characters are currently performed by Muppeteers...
—all except Kermit are still major characters on the show, but only Oscar is still regularly portrayed by the same puppeteer (Caroll Spinney
Caroll Spinney
Caroll Edwin Spinney, sometimes credited as Carroll Spinney or Ed Spinney , is an American puppeteer most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on the children's television show Sesame Street.-Life and career:...
). Spinney has largely handed off Big Bird to Matt Vogel; Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
(Kermit, Ernie) has died, with Steve Whitmire
Steve Whitmire
Steven Whitmire is an American puppeteer who works for The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop and Disney's The Muppets Studio. He has been the performer of two signature Muppets - Kermit the Frog and Sesame Street's Ernie - since the death of their creator and original performer, Jim Henson, in...
playing Ernie (Kermit no longer appears); and Frank Oz
Frank Oz
Frank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, and for directing films, including the 1986 Little Shop of...
, busy as a director, now only puppets Grover and Bert a couple of times each season (David Rudman
David Rudman
David Rudman is a puppeteer, voice actor and producer, best known as a performer of many of Sesame Street's Muppets. He originated the role of Baby Bear, and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work replacing Frank Oz in the role of Cookie Monster...
and Eric Jacobson
Eric Jacobson
Eric Jacobson is a puppeteer and Muppet performer, who has been the primary replacement puppeteer for Frank Oz's characters since 2001.-Career:...
have largely taken over his characters).
Birthdays
Since Sesame Street Magazine published calendars in every issue, character birthdays were established. Gordon's birthday is February 24, Susan's is May 4, and Miles's is December 4.Relatives
Writers introduced the character of Olivia (Gordon's sister), played by actress Alaina Reed, in 1976 to show a relationship between adult siblings. Olivia was a photographer and last appeared on the show in 1988 (so Reed could work on the TV sitcom 227227 (TV series)
227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins...
), although the television special The Street We Live On included archive footage of her. Reed passed away of breast cancer on December 17, 2009, at the age 63.
In episode 4061 (season 35), Carl Gordon
Carl Gordon (actor)
Carl Gordon was an American actor who entered the acting profession later in life and was best known for his role in the Fox TV series Roc, in addition to a wide range of roles in film, on stage and television as a character actor.Gordon was born Rufus Carl Gordon, Jr. in Goochland, Virginia and...
played Mr. Robinson, Gordon's father.
Kevin Clash
Kevin Clash
Kevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer and voice actor whose characters include Elmo, Baby Sinclair, Clifford, Splinter and Hoots the Owl...
played a grown-up version of Miles in episode 2313; Clash is a Muppeteer who portrays Elmo
Elmo
Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is a furry red monster and currently hosts the last full 15 minute segment on Sesame Street, Elmo's World, which is aimed at toddlers. His puppeteer, Kevin Clash, uses falsetto to produce his voice...
on the show. In this episode, Miles has a son.
In one episode, circa 1975, Susan leaves the Street for a day to visit her mother, who has taken ill, in Merton, which according to Gordon, is a few hours from New York by plane and a short train ride after landing.
Susan's parents were seen in episode 2125 (season 17), in which they visited Gordon and Susan after they adopted Miles. They revisited the Street in episode 2226 (season 18), Gordon and Susan threw a party to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Miles' adoption, in which the event was reenacted with Big Bird
Big Bird
Big Bird is a protagonist of the children's television show Sesame Street. Big Bird, like many of the other Sesame Street characters, is a Muppet character. He is sometimes referred to simply as "Bird" by his friends....
as Gordon, Snuffy
Aloysius Snuffleupagus
Aloysius Snuffleupagus, more commonly known as Mr. Snuffleupagus or Snuffy, is one of the Muppet characters on the longest-running educational television program for young children, Sesame Street. He was created as a woolly mammoth, without tusks or ears, and has a long thick pointed tail, similar...
as Susan, and Elmo
Elmo
Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is a furry red monster and currently hosts the last full 15 minute segment on Sesame Street, Elmo's World, which is aimed at toddlers. His puppeteer, Kevin Clash, uses falsetto to produce his voice...
as the adoption agent. Susan's father is Lee (played by Bill Cobbs
Bill Cobbs
Wilbert "Bill" Cobbs is an American film and television actor. He has starred in over 120 television programs and movies.-Life and career:...
), and her mother is Dorothy (Frances Foster
Frances Foster
Frances Foster was an American film, television and stage actress. She was also an award-winning stage director.-Biography:...
). Her parents came back for another visit in episode 2820 (season 22), in which the short-lived character Preston Rabbit was also a guest at the Robinson's apartment.
Added to the show in 2007 was Gordon and Susan's nephew, Chris Robinson, played by actor Chris Knowings.
Off the Street
Gordon, Susan, and Mr. Hooper were all turned into Little PeopleLittle People
Little People is a toy brand for preschoolers, originally produced by Fisher-Price in the 1960s as the Play Family. The current product line consists of playsets, mini-sets and accessories, books, CDs, and DVDs focusing on various configurations of five characters named Eddie, Sarah Lynn, Maggie,...
toy figures in 1975, nearly the only toys ever created of the human characters of Sesame Street; a Mr. Noodle
Mr. Noodle
The goofy-acting human characters Mr. Noodle, Mr. Noodle's Brother, and Miss Noodle all appear in Sesame Street 's "Elmo's World" segments. The characters, who do not speak, attempt repeatedly to demonstrate a particular activity related to the episode's topic, while offscreen children verbally...
doll was created in the early 2000s. Gordon and Susan, as well as other humans on the series have been included in various books, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s.
During the early years, Susan often sang "One of These Things". She also headlined her own album, Susan Sings Songs from Sesame Street, and had minor roles in both Sesame Street movies.
Robinson and Long appeared in the original Sesame Street Live
Sesame Street Live
Sesame Street Live is the live touring show based on the children's television show Sesame Street.Produced by Minneapolis-based VEE Corporation, the show opened on September 17, 1980, with a production of Sesame Street Live "Missing Bird Mystery" playing at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota...
touring production, while Orman and Long make occasional appearances in and out of character. In the summer of 2005, Orman appeared as Gordon with Kevin Clash
Kevin Clash
Kevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer and voice actor whose characters include Elmo, Baby Sinclair, Clifford, Splinter and Hoots the Owl...
puppeteering Elmo at series sponsor Beaches Family Resorts in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
Long speaks on various topics, including "Children's Education and the Dynamics of Television on the Education of Young Children", "Cultural Diversity: The Sesame Street Method", "Happy Birthday Sesame Street: A Twenty-Five-Year Retrospective", "Mother the First Teacher and Home the First School", "Sesame Street: The Second Generation", "Sesame Street: A Space-Age Approach to Education for Space-Aged Children", "Susan of Sesame Street Sing-Along", "The ABC's of African-American History", and "Why Didn't Someone Tell Me? A Talk About Teaching in the Inner City".
In his memoirs, Orman recalls a meet-and-greet in the mid-1980s, after performing for an audience of 500 in a Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
college auditorium. One little girl, who Orman estimates was aged seven or eight, approached him for a hug, a regular occurrence. He noticed her hug, wrapping around his neck, was "unusually ardent, [with an] almost desperate quality of… embrace". Orman later discovered that he was the first adult male she had been willing to approach, after being sexually abused by a family member, "some time ago".
Long has taught classes at Roan University, including "The Sesame Street Approach to Elementary Education".
The original Gordon, Matt Robinson, died 5 August 2002. As many fans didn't know there were "Gordons" before Roscoe Orman, and they didn't know Orman's name, rumor spread that it was Orman who died. Hal Miller's post-Sesame career included three movie appearances and one production credit; only one of the roles was named. Miles Orman now plays basketball for the Marist College
Marist College
Marist College is a private liberal arts college on the east bank of the Hudson River near Poughkeepsie, New York. The site was established in 1905 by Marist Brothers, and the college was chartered in 1929...
Red Foxes.
See also
- Gordon: Matt Robinson, Hal MillerHal Miller (actor)Harold Miller, more widely known as Hal Miller, is an American stage and television actor.Miller received his Actors' Equity Association card in 1968 while working with Joseph Papp in Shakespeare's Henry V. From 1972 until 1974, Miller played the role of Gordon Robinson on Sesame Street. He made...
, Roscoe OrmanRoscoe OrmanRoscoe 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... - Susan: Loretta LongLoretta LongLoretta Long is an American actress best known for playing Susan Robinson on Sesame Street, having starred on the show since its debut in 1969....
- Miles: Miles OrmanMiles OrmanMiles 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....
, Imani PattersonImani PattersonImani Patterson was the second actor to play Miles Robinson on Sesame Street. He took over the role from Miles Orman in 1992 and played it for ten years before passing it on to Olamide Faison in 2002.- References :...
, Olamide FaisonOlamide FaisonOlamide Aladejobi Patrick Alexander Faison is an American actor. He plays Miles Robinson on the children's television show Sesame Street....
, Kevin ClashKevin ClashKevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer and voice actor whose characters include Elmo, Baby Sinclair, Clifford, Splinter and Hoots the Owl... - Olivia: Alaina Reed
- Carl GordonCarl GordonCarl Gordon was born in Greenock on 13 March 1931, and attended Mearns Street School and Greenock High School. His maternal grandfather was from Copenhagen and when he left school at the age of 14 he had already started to teach himself Danish...
, Bill CobbsBill CobbsWilbert "Bill" Cobbs is an American film and television actor. He has starred in over 120 television programs and movies.-Life and career:...
, Frances FosterFrances FosterFrances Foster was an American film, television and stage actress. She was also an award-winning stage director.-Biography:...
External links
- Interview from Wisconsin Public Television with Roscoe Orman—the actor talks about his career and experiences playing Gordon Robinson on Sesame Street.