Sesame Street Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

Since 1969, the series "Sesame Street" has offered young viewers a friendly, imaginative place where important lessons – both educational and social – are addressed through a diverse cast of humans and puppets using irreverent humor and relatable situations to impart their message. The series, produced by Sesame Workshop (formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop), has created some of the most beloved figures in children's programming, including Big Bird, Elmo, Oscar the Grouch, and Grover – all Muppet creations of puppeteer Jim Henson and operated originally by him and future "Muppet Show" vets Frank Oz and Jerry Nelson. The show also brought us the magic of Caroll Spinney, who operated both Big Bird and Oscar for nearly 50 years. 

"Sesame Street" has also featured a host of actors who have gone on to become well-loved figures for young viewers, many of whom, like Bob McGrath (who played the kindly Bob) and Roscoe Orman (the fatherly Gordon), remained with the series for decades. Like many long-running shows, "Sesame Street" has undergone numerous cast and creative personnel changes over the years, and now airs on PBS and HBO Max.

Below is a list of some beloved "Sesame Street" actors who may have helped shape your childhood — and who you might not realize have since passed away.

For nearly a half-century, whole-body puppeteer Caroll Spinney played Big Bird, the eternally six-year-old and perpetually curious heart and soul of "Sesame Street," as well as the embodiment of the show's mission to connect children with education through entertaining stories and characters. Playing the eight-foot-two-inch bird was a challenge – Spinney operated Big Bird's head with one upraised hand and one wing with the opposite arm while also watching the scene (and reading his lines) from a monitor and script, respectively, inside the costume.

When not operating Big Bird, Spinney also voiced and operated another iconic character, Oscar the Grouch. The character's prickly attitude — a counterpoint to the "sunny days" perspective of the rest of the cast — made him an immediate pop culture icon for dyspeptic types, and led to appearances outside the "Sesame Street" universe, including "Portlandia," "Scrubs," and "Night at the Museum."

Spinney operated both Big Bird and Oscar until 2015, when the physical demands of both characters forced him to step down as puppeteer. He continued to record the voices for his beloved roles until retiring from the series in 2018. Spinney, who won four Daytime Emmys and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Science (and was the subject of a 2015 documentary, "I am Big Bird") died at his home in Woodstock, Connecticut on December 8, 2019, at the age of 85.

Puppeteer Richard Hunt had been a fan of Jim Henson's Muppets prior to joining their ranks in 1970. "I'd drop anything to watch them," he said. 

He moved quickly up the ranks from background player to one of the primary performers on "Sesame Street," "The Muppet Show" and "Fraggle Rock," among many other Muppet projects. His "Sesame Street" characters — the silent construction worker Sully, crooning bovine Gladys the Cow, and the perpetually frustrated songwriter Don Music — were less well known than his "Muppet Show" roles (Scooter, Janice, Beaker, and Sweetums, among others), but fans and collaborators alike appreciated the enthusiasm he brought to each character.

Hunt, who also appeared in live-action roles in Muppet projects ("The Great Muppet Caper") and unrelated films and television (he played Wilson, the trader who got overrun in the finale of "Trading Places"), died from HIV complications in Manhattan, New York on January 2, 1992. He was 40 years old.

Though Roscoe Orman is best known for playing Gordon on "Sesame Street," he wasn't the first actor in the role. There were, in fact, two actors who preceded him: Hal Miller played him from 1972 to 1974, while Matt Robinson originated the role and played Gordon from the show's first episode in 1969 until 1972.

Robinson, a playwright and television writer/producer, joined "Sesame Street" as a producer, but stepped into the role of Gordon when initial casting decisions failed to pan out. Robinson saw the series as an opportunity to present positive Black images on television through his turn as Gordon and his Muppet creation, a boy named Roosevelt Franklin.

Roosevelt gave Robinson and "Sesame Street" the chance to introduce young viewers to Black cultural history through a series of schoolroom skits; though a popular character, Roosevelt was seen by some producers and critics as a negative stereotype because of his occasionally unruly behavior. Robinson, who left "Sesame Street" in 1972, continued to write and perform as Roosevelt until 1975.

After "Sesame Street," Robinson wrote numerous network TV episodes and features, earned a Daytime Emmy for his writing on "Captain Kangaroo," and served as producer and story editor for "The Cosby Show." Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1982, Robinson died from it at the age of 65 on August 5, 2002. His daughter, actress Holly Robinson Peete, and her husband, NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, established The HollyRod Foundation, which supports individuals with Parkinson's and autism, in 1997.

Northern Calloway's David eventually took over Hooper's Store, but following his departure from the series, it was owned and operated by David Handford, known to Muppets and humans alike as retired firefighter Mr. Handford. Initially played as something of a Hooper-esque curmudgeon by Leonard Jackson, a character actor whose credits included "Car Wash" and "The Color Purple" (as well as a long stint on "Shining Time Station" as engineer/mechanic Harry Cupper), Mr. Handford was transformed into a kinder, gentler shopkeeper by actor/writer David L. Smyrl, who played the role from Season 22 in 1990 to Season 29 in 1998, and netted eight Daytime Emmy Awards for his performance.

Smryl, who began his career as a Broadway actor before segueing into writing for "Benson" and "The Cosby Show," also lent his voice to numerous television commercials. After leaving "Sesame Street," he appeared sporadically on television until 2006; a decade later, Smyrl died from lung cancer at the age of 80 on March 22, 2016. Leonard Jackson preceded him in death three years prior, dying at the age of 85 from undisclosed causes on December 22, 2013.

One of the best examples of the offbeat humor that fueled the educational lessons on the early days of "Sesame Street" was a character known alternately as the Mad Painter or Number Painter, who was used to demonstrate number recognition. A bearded beatnik-type with a bowler hat and striped shirt, the painter — played by actor Paul Benedict of "The Jeffersons" fame — was compelled in ten short skits (each silent and running for no more than 90 seconds) to paint a number on the first available surface he could find.

Said surfaces included a boat sail, a large cake, a bar stool, and the ball in a gorilla's cage. The Painter's zeal invariably drew the ire of two recurring guest stars — The Lady (played by Stockard Channing), and the easily aggravated Mac (Jerome Raphael), whose bald head was used as the canvas for the number 8.

Benedict, an acclaimed stage actor who shared the stage Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, was frequently cast in comic roles in features, most notably in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries "This is Spinal Tap," and "Waiting for Guffman," in which he's mistaken for the titular critic. The 70-year-old Benedict died from apparent natural causes at his home on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on October 1, 2008.

A traveling salesman whose suitcase seemed to contain any item, regardless of its size, Bob's Uncle Wally proved that gentleness and charm was a family trait. As played by Bill McCutcheon — a Broadway veteran who won Tony and Obie Awards during his long stage career — Uncle Wally was a lovable, grandfatherly figure with a wealth of stories from life on the road, and a host of unique friends, including a trained seal named Wolfgang.

His most valuable contribution to the program was Uncle Wally's willingness to listen and engage with the children and Muppet characters, offering unwavering faith and interest in their thoughts. For his work on the series from Seasons 15 to 23, McCutcheon won three Daytime Emmy Awards

In addition to his stage work, McCutcheon appeared on numerous television series, including other children's programming like "Captain Kangaroo," and several features, ranging from "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" to "Steel Magnolias." He died from natural causes at the age of 77 at his home in Mahwah, New Jersey, on January 9, 2002.

Actress and singer Alaina Reed-Amini (who was also billed as Alaina Reed and Alaina Reed-Hall) helped many "Sesame Street" viewers understand the complicated nature of sibling relationships playing Gordon's younger sister, Olivia. Introduced in Season 8, Olivia was a photographer who returned to Sesame Street after working in Detroit; her relationship with Gordon became a vehicle for young audiences to see that siblings could disagree on matters and still love and respect each other.

Reed-Amini, who began her career in stage and nightclub productions, was frequently showcased in musical numbers on "Sesame Street," proving adept at everything from jazz and soul to opera and lullabies. In the final years of her "Sesame" stint, Reed-Amini split her screen duties between the children's program and the popular NBC sitcom "227," for which she played Marla Gibbs' friend and landlady, Rose.

The two jobs required her to travel between Los Angeles for "227" and New York for "Sesame Street," and she eventually departed the latter for fulltime work in 1988. Following the cancellation of "227" in 1990, Reed-Amini worked steadily as a guest performer on numerous television series, including "Friends" and "ER."

Reed's diagnosis of breast cancer in 2007 led to her inclusion in a 2009 documentary "Breast Cancer Examined: An African-American Perspective." She died from the disease on December 17 of that same year at the age of 63.