Sesame Street is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop and was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett. It is known for its images communicated through the use of Jim Henson's Muppets, and includes short films, with humor and cultural references. It premiered on November 10, 1969, to positive reviews, some controversy, and high viewership. It has aired on the United States national public television provider PBS since its debut, with its first run moving to premium channel HBO on January 16, 2016, then its sister streaming service (HBO) Max in 2020.
Keshia Knight Pulliam is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor. She landed her breakthrough role as Rudy Huxtable, on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992), and became the youngest person to be nominated for an Emmy Award, when she earned a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in A Comedy Series at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards. She later reprised the character on the spin-off series A Different World (1987–88). Pulliam is also known for her portrayal of Miranda Lucas-Payne on the TBS comedy drama Tyler Perry's House of Payne (2007–present).
Sonia Manzano is an American actress, screenwriter, and author. She is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 to 2015. She received a Lifetime Achievement Daytime Emmy Award in 2016.
Joan Ganz Cooney is an American television writer and producer. She is one of the founders of Sesame Workshop, the organization famous for the creation of the children's television show Sesame Street, which was co-created by her. Cooney grew up in Phoenix and earned a Bachelor of Arts in education from the University of Arizona in 1951. After working for the State Department in Washington, D.C., and as a journalist in Phoenix, she worked as a publicist for television and production companies in New York City. In 1961, she became interested in working for educational television, and became a documentary producer for New York's first educational TV station WNET. Many of the programs she produced won local Emmys.
"Welcome to Holland" is a prominent essay, written in 1987 by American author and social activist Emily Perl Kingsley, about having a child with a disability. The piece is given by many organizations to new parents of children with special needs issues such as Down syndrome. As a testament to its popularity, several individuals have received the first name "Holland".
Jeff Moss was an American composer, lyricist, playwright and television writer, best known for his award-winning work on the children's television series Sesame Street.
Mo Willems is an American writer, animator, voice actor, and children's book author. His work includes creating the animated television series Sheep in the Big City for Cartoon Network, working on Sesame Street and The Off-Beats, and creating the children's book series Elephant and Piggie.
Christopher Cerf is an American author, composer-lyricist, voice actor, and record and television producer. He has contributed music to Sesame Street, and co-created and co-produced the PBS literacy education television program Between the Lions.
Carol-Lynn Parente is an American television producer, known as the executive producer of the children's educational TV series Sesame Street and creating the PBS KIDS series Hero Elementary.
Alice Elliott is a documentary filmmaker, director, writer, producer, advocate for people with disabilities, and a member of New Day Films, an educational film distribution cooperative. She is also an Associate Arts Professor and Area Head of Documentary Studies at NYU. Elliott received a NY Emmy for Miracle on 42nd Street, and has been nominated for an Academy Award for The Collector of Bedford Street.
Emily Squires was an American television producer and director best known for her Emmy Award-winning work on Sesame Street.
The children's television show Sesame Street, which premiered on public broadcasting television stations in 1969, was the first show of its kind that utilized a detailed and comprehensive educational curriculum, with specific educational goals, in its content. Its goals were garnered from in-house formative research and independent summative evaluations, and its first curriculum was created in a series of five seminars in 1968.
Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome is a non-fiction book written by American author Rudy Simone. It was published in 2010 by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. The book is about women and girls who have Asperger syndrome and their experiences. It was written to help girls and women who have been diagnosed with Asperger's.
Joseph Mazzarino is an American puppeteer, writer, director and actor. He is best known for his roles on Sesame Street as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on Sesame Street, winning 22 Emmy Awards for his work.
Jennifer Cook (formerly O'Toole) (born October 24, 1975) is an American author and speaker. She is known for her six Asperkids books, which have been translated into six languages and include the winner of the Autism Society of America's Book of the Year Award. Her memoir Autism in Heels: The Untold Story of a Female Life on the Spectrum is a Wall Street Journal Bestseller, a "Best Book" title winner by Publishers Weekly, and named a "Best Memoir" and one of both the "Best Autism Books of All Time" and "Best-Selling Autism Books of All Time" by BookAuthority. She is the on-camera autism expert in Netflix's series Love on the Spectrum.
Jason Kingsley is an American actor who was born with Down syndrome. In 1975, Kingsley made his television debut on Sesame Street at 15 months old and appeared in 55 episodes. He also guest-starred in a 1984 episode of The Fall Guy, and episodes of All My Children and Touched by an Angel.
Tarah Lynne Schaeffer is a former American child actress. She is known for her role as herself on Sesame Street.
Loryn Brantz is an American author and illustrator with a focus on feminism- and women-related topics. She wrote and illustrated the board book series Feminist Baby. She is also the creator of the webcomic series: Jellybean Comics and The Good Advice Cupcake.
Count Us In: Growing Up with Down Syndrome is a nonfiction book written by Jason Kingsley and Mitchell Levitz who both have Down syndrome. Kingsley and Levitz discuss their lives and views on Down syndrome.
Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You is a children’s picture book written by Sonia Sotomayor and illustrated by Rafael Lopez. The book was published on September 3, 2019, and won ALA’s 2020 Schneider Family Book Award. The book follows the experiences of children who are diagnosed with disabilities and focuses on the power of these differences.
