Co-Creator of 'Sesame Street' Dies at 93
Lloyd Morrisett, the co-creator of the beloved children’s education TV series “Sesame Street,” has died. He was 93.
Morrisett’s death was announced Monday by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit he helped establish under the name the Children’s Television Workshop.
No cause of death was given.
In a statement, Sesame Workshop hailed Morrisett as a “wise, thoughtful, and above all kind leader” who was “constantly thinking about new ways” to educate.
Sesame Workshop mourns the passing of our esteemed and beloved co-founder Lloyd N. Morrisett, PhD, who died at the age of 93. pic.twitter.com/I9cSez95Px
— Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop) January 23, 2023
Morrisett and Joan Ganz Cooney worked with Harvard University developmental psychologist Gerald Lesser to build the show’s unique approach to teaching that now reaches 120 million children. Legendary puppeteer Jim Henson supplied the critters.
“Without Lloyd Morrisett, there would be no ‘Sesame Street.’ It was he who first came up with the notion of using television to teach preschoolers basic skills, such as letters and numbers,” Cooney said in a statement. “He was a trusted partner and loyal friend to me for over 50 years, and he will be sorely missed.”
“Sesame Street” is shown in more than 150 countries. It has won 216 Emmys and 11 Grammys and in 2019 received the Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime artistic achievement, the first time a television program got the award (Big Bird strolled down the aisle and basically sat in Tom Hanks’ lap).
Born in 1929 in Oklahoma City, Morrisett initially trained to be a teacher with a background in psychology. He became an experimental educator, looking for new ways to educate children from less advantaged backgrounds.
Morrisett received his bachelor’s at Oberlin College, did graduate work in psychology at UCLA and earned his doctorate in experimental psychology at Yale University. He was an Oberlin trustee for many years and was chairman of the board from 1975 to 1981.
The germ of “Sesame Street” was sown over a dinner party in 1966, where he met Cooney.
“I said, ‘Joan, do you think television could be used to teach young children?’ Her answer was, ‘I don’t know, but I’d like to talk about it,’” he recalled to The Guardian in 2004.
The first episode of “Sesame Street” — sponsored by the letters W, S and E and the numbers 2 and 3 — aired in the fall of 1969.
Children’s programming at the time was made up of shows such as “Captain Kangaroo,” “Romper Room” and the often violent cartoon skirmishes between “Tom & Jerry.” “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” was mostly teaching social skills.
“Sesame Street” was designed by education professionals and child psychologists with one goal: to help low-income and minority students ages 2-5 overcome some of the deficiencies they had when entering school.
The show was set on an urban street with a multicultural cast. Monsters, humans and animals all lived together peacefully.
The company said upon the news of his death that Morrisett left “an outsized and indelible legacy among generations of children the world over, with ‘Sesame Street’ only the most visible tribute to a lifetime of good work and lasting impact.”
He is survived by his wife, Mary; daughters Julie and Sarah; and granddaughters Frances and Clara.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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