(New York) Lloyd Morrisett, one of the creators of the educational children’s television series Sesame Street, which spawned such iconic characters as Elmo and Cookie Monster, has passed away. He was 93 years old.
Mr Morrisett’s death was announced on Tuesday by Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization he helped set up as Children’s Television Workshop. No cause of death was given.
In a statement, Sesame Workshop described Mr Morrisett as a “wise, thoughtful and above all kind leader”, who was “constantly thinking of new ways” to educate.
Lloyd Morrisett and Joan Ganz Cooney worked with Harvard University developmental psychologist Gerald Lesser to develop the show’s unique approach that now reaches 120 million children. Legendary puppeteer Jim Henson provided the creatures.
Sesame Street airs in over 150 countries, has won 193 Emmys, 10 Grammys, and in 2019 received the Kennedy Center Honor for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. It was the first time a TV show had received the latter award – Big Bird walked down the aisle and almost sat on Tom Hanks’ lap.
Born in 1929 in Oklahoma City, Mr. Morrisett initially trained as a teacher with a major in psychology. He became an experimental educator, looking for new ways to educate children from disadvantaged backgrounds. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College, did graduate work in psychology at UCLA, and earned his doctorate in experimental psychology from Yale University. He was a trustee of Oberlin College for many years and served as chairman of the board from 1975 to 1981.
The idea of Sesame Street sprouted at an event in 1966, where he met Mme Cooney.
“I said, ‘Joan, do you think television could be used to teach young children?’ His response was, ‘I don’t know, but I’d like to talk about it,'” he recalled in an interview with The Guardian in 2004.
The first episode of Sesame Street aired in the fall of 1969. It was a turbulent time in the United States, rocked by the Vietnam War and the assassination of Martin Luther King the previous year.
Sesame Street was designed by education professionals and child psychologists with one goal: to help low-income and minority students aged 2 to 5 overcome some of the shortcomings they had when they entered high school. ‘school. Social scientists have long noted that white children and children from higher-income families are often better prepared.
The show is set on an urban street with a multicultural cast. Diversity and inclusion were built into the show: monsters, humans and animals lived together peacefully.
It became the first children’s program to feature someone with Down syndrome. He had HIV-positive and foster puppets and children in wheelchairs were invited. Several topics were discussed, including imprisoned parents, homelessness, women’s rights and military families.