DEAD-END STREET
After the death of Emilio Delgado (Luis) earlier in the year, another bedrock of the Sesame Street human cast has been swept away with the clouds. Bob McGrath started out as a singer with Mitch Miller’s troupe and became an unlikely teen idol in Japan of all places, nicknamed “Bobu Magurasu” by his fans. But it was with Sesame Street where he made his name, debuting in the 1969 premiere as friendly music teacher Bob Johnson and remaining a mainstay for the next half century. Perhaps his finest moment on the Street was when he and the other adults explained to Big Bird that Mr. Hooper had died. McGrath was close friends with Hooper actor Will Lee, whose death spurred the showrunners to kill off his character to teach children about death, and the episode remains among the most poignant moments in television. By 2017, Bob and the other humans were largely phased out of Sesame Street, but McGrath remained active as an ambassador for the show. He was 90 and was picked by Bobs and Barbs. Just because.
Bob McGrath
13 June 1932 – 4 December 2022, aged 90
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