{"id":1964,"date":"2024-02-29T18:54:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T18:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xstorynews.com\/?p=1964"},"modified":"2024-02-29T18:54:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T18:54:30","slug":"rest-in-peace-to-an-icon-of-american-childhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xstorynews.com\/?p=1964","title":{"rendered":"Rest In Peace To An Icon Of American Childhood!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rest In Peace To An Icon Of American Childhood<\/h1>\n
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By Alice Edwards – Updated February 27, 2024<\/p>\n

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Sesame Street icon Bob McGrath, who was among the first stars of the show, died peacefully at his family home on Sunday \u201csurrounded by his family.\u201d The Sesame Street original actor also wrote the show\u2019s iconic theme song and appeared in forty-seven seasons of the childhood favorite program. He passed away \u201cpeacefully\u201d at his New Jersey home at the age of ninety-one, following a long career in child entertainment as an icon on the famous Sesame Street program for PBS.<\/p>\n

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McGrath appeared in the pilot episode of Sesame Street which aired back in 1969. He then followed through with his commitment to the children\u2019s program and appeared in forty-seven seasons of the popular program until he retired from the show. His final episode of Sesame Street was entitled \u201cHaving a Ball\u201d and aired in 2017.<\/p>\n

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Throughout his career on Sesame Street, McGrath appeared in more than 150 episodes of the show. He also appeared in many direct-to-video movies from Sesame Street as well as two feature films from the iconic children\u2019s show.<\/p>\n

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McGrath\u2019s family shared a social media update on Facebook following the icon\u2019s passing this past Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur father Bob McGrath passed away today. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family,\u201d said a post on the entertainer\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n

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McGrath was a puppeteer who enjoyed conducting educational lessons with puppets for children. He was also a songwriter and wrote many songs for Sesame Street including People in Your Neighborhood If You\u2019re Happy and You Know It, Sing a Song, as well as the Sesame Street theme song, which has been airing with the show for years.<\/p>\n

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He was one of the four original Sesame Street actors hired to launch the show back in 1969. He played a character called Bob, his namesake, alongside other Sesame Street greats like Matt Robinson as Gordon, Loretta Long as Susan, and Will Lee as Mr. Hooper.<\/p>\n

Back in 1998, McGrath spoke to the Sun-Times about his days with Sesame Street, \u201cWe\u2019ve always looked at children as just short people. We\u2019ve never talked down to them. The kids we were meant to reach, I think we\u2019ve reached. They\u2019ve grown up. They\u2019re in their 30s now. They have kids of their own, our Sesame Seeds, and they come up to me and say: \u2018Thank you very much. It made a major difference in our lives.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Following his retirement from appearing on Sesame Street in 2017, he continued to work behind the scenes with the show as part of the Sesame Workshop.<\/p>\n

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Other actors, including Josh Gad, paid tribute to Bob McGrath in their own tributes posted to social media.<\/p>\n

Gad wrote, \u201cMcGrath was my childhood. Thank you for helping to teach us kindness, respect, love, and empathy. You were as much a teacher to my generation as any of our actual educators. RIP.\u201d<\/p>\n

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McGrath\u2019s final appearance for Sesame Street was in a 2021 documentary film entitled Sesame Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street.<\/p>\n

McGrath is survived by his wife, Ann, and their three children, and five grandchildren.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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