A bright, benevolent light went out on December 4, 2022, when Bob McGrath passed away at the age of 90. For 47 years, he maintained a residence as Bob Johnson on "Sesame Street," where, at an amazing 130-episode-per-season clip (until 1998), he taught children the joy of music. Whenever Bob dropped by Gordon and Susan Robinson's apartment, or popped his head into Mr. Hooper's shop, you knew a sing-a-long was imminent. He had a load of songs in his arsenal, and not a bum one in the bunch. But as a loyal viewer in the late 1970s, I always perked up when Bob busted out a rendition of "One of These Things," "A Face" or "The People in Your Neighborhood."
The vast majority of my earliest memories center on movies, television and music. I retain fragments of going to see "Star Wars" in 1977, rocking to and fro in front of my record player...
The vast majority of my earliest memories center on movies, television and music. I retain fragments of going to see "Star Wars" in 1977, rocking to and fro in front of my record player...
- 12/5/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street Trailer — Marilyn Agrelo‘s Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (2021) movie trailer has been released by HBO. The Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street trailer stars Frank Biondo, Linda Bove, Fran Brill, Northern Calloway, Christopher Cerf, David D. Connell, Joan [...]
Continue reading: Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street (2021) Movie Trailer: Marilyn Agrelo’s Doc Chronicles the Early Days of the Educational Kids TV Show...
Continue reading: Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street (2021) Movie Trailer: Marilyn Agrelo’s Doc Chronicles the Early Days of the Educational Kids TV Show...
- 11/26/2021
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Though there have been deaf characters in movies for decades they were rarely played by hearing impaired actors. Hollywood was looking for big names for their movies and overlooked performers who were deaf. Case in point: Did you know that Loretta Young played deaf characters in both 1939’s “The Story of Alexander Graham Bell” and 1944’s “And Now Tomorrow”? And hearing actors Jane Wyman and Patty Duke won Oscars playing deaf characters. It wasn’t until 1986’s “Children of a Lesser God” that a deaf actress, Marlee Matlin, won an Oscar for playing a deaf character.
Change has been slow since then, but this past year has been encouraging. Paul Raci received an Oscar nomination this year as a Vietnam Vet who became hearing impaired in the conflict runs a shelter for recovering hearing impaired substance abuse addicts in “Sound of Metal.” Teenage deaf performer Millicent Simmonds returned this year...
Change has been slow since then, but this past year has been encouraging. Paul Raci received an Oscar nomination this year as a Vietnam Vet who became hearing impaired in the conflict runs a shelter for recovering hearing impaired substance abuse addicts in “Sound of Metal.” Teenage deaf performer Millicent Simmonds returned this year...
- 8/28/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
This is part of an ongoing series that looks at the history of disability issues in television. You can find Part One in the series here and Part Two here. As a disabled writer, I will use both person-first and identity-first language interchangeably for purposes of brevity and clarity.
Animation and children’s programming long have been at the forefront of disability representation. They’ve never solely been focused on introducing disability in children’s lives early — more often than not, they are creating fully-fleshed out characters to help children who might be disabled themselves.
I talked in the first part of this series about watching “The Wild Thornberries” as a kid and seeing the character of Bethany, who used a wheelchair. It wasn’t until after I wrote it that I realized I had an earlier experience: During the first four years of school I was asked constantly if...
Animation and children’s programming long have been at the forefront of disability representation. They’ve never solely been focused on introducing disability in children’s lives early — more often than not, they are creating fully-fleshed out characters to help children who might be disabled themselves.
I talked in the first part of this series about watching “The Wild Thornberries” as a kid and seeing the character of Bethany, who used a wheelchair. It wasn’t until after I wrote it that I realized I had an earlier experience: During the first four years of school I was asked constantly if...
- 9/10/2020
- by Kristen Lopez
- Indiewire
In today’s TV news roundup, Sesame Workshop announced a premiere date for “Sesame Street’s Historic 50th Anniversary Celebration” and “Brave New World” adds Sophie McIntosh.
Casting
New Zealand actress Sophie McIntosh has been cast in USA Network’s “Brave New World” series, Variety has learned exclusively. She will play the recurring role of Jane, and joins a cast which includes Alden Ehrenreich, Harry Lloyd and Jessica Brown Findlay. McIntosh is repped by Echo Lake Entertainment, Johnson and Laird Management in New Zealand, and Bloomfields Welch Management in the U.K.
Dates
Iliza Shlesinger’s fifth original Netflix comedy special will premiere Nov. 19 on the streaming platform. In the hour-long special, the newly married Shlesinger will pull back the veil on the dangers of having a zombie bachelorette army while also discussing wedding planning, garters and honeymooning.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind “Sesame Street,” announced the historic 50th season...
Casting
New Zealand actress Sophie McIntosh has been cast in USA Network’s “Brave New World” series, Variety has learned exclusively. She will play the recurring role of Jane, and joins a cast which includes Alden Ehrenreich, Harry Lloyd and Jessica Brown Findlay. McIntosh is repped by Echo Lake Entertainment, Johnson and Laird Management in New Zealand, and Bloomfields Welch Management in the U.K.
Dates
Iliza Shlesinger’s fifth original Netflix comedy special will premiere Nov. 19 on the streaming platform. In the hour-long special, the newly married Shlesinger will pull back the veil on the dangers of having a zombie bachelorette army while also discussing wedding planning, garters and honeymooning.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind “Sesame Street,” announced the historic 50th season...
- 10/16/2019
- by Lorraine Wheat
- Variety Film + TV
The New York Times reports on a controversy surrounding the New York Theater Workshop production of Carson McCuller's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter whose central character John Singer is a deaf and mute man in the novel. Playwright Rebecca Gilman adapted the fictional work to the stage and included a spoken opening and closing monologue for Singer. Now deaf actors and activists are protesting the decision made by the director to cast a hearing man to play the part. Says Linda Bove, the deaf actress who is familiar to many from Sesame Street, "A hearing actor playing a deaf character is tantamount to putting a white actor in blackface." The director Doug Hughes feels that because the monologues are spoken, only a hearing actor would work for the part. There are several issues raised by this...
- 10/15/2009
- by Lennard Davis
- Huffington Post
Talks of a strike authorization and Phase One agreements took a back seat on Monday as representatives of SAG, AFTRA and Actors' Equity announced a joint campaign to improve working conditions and visibility for performers with disabilities.
During a news conference at SAG Hollywood headquarters, SAG national president Alan Rosenberg introduced a disability rights initiative known as the Inclusion in the Arts and Media of People with Disabilities (I Am Pwd), which is designed to educate the public about the discrimination and lack of inclusion that performers with disabilities face.
The campaign will focus on removing physical barriers that that interfere with actors' ability to audition and work -- including adding wheelchair access, sign-language interpretation and scripts in Braille and/or large print -- and urging producers to create more accurate characters with disabilities.
Rosenberg noted a key objective will be to convince producers to include actors with disabilities in...
During a news conference at SAG Hollywood headquarters, SAG national president Alan Rosenberg introduced a disability rights initiative known as the Inclusion in the Arts and Media of People with Disabilities (I Am Pwd), which is designed to educate the public about the discrimination and lack of inclusion that performers with disabilities face.
The campaign will focus on removing physical barriers that that interfere with actors' ability to audition and work -- including adding wheelchair access, sign-language interpretation and scripts in Braille and/or large print -- and urging producers to create more accurate characters with disabilities.
Rosenberg noted a key objective will be to convince producers to include actors with disabilities in...
- 10/6/2008
- by By Lauren Horwitch, Back Stage West
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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