'Sesame Street' Co-creator, Lloyd N. Morrisett Passes Away At Age 93
Image Source: Entertainment Tonight
Sesame Workshop announced on Monday that Lloyd Morrisett, co-creator of the treasured children’s program Sesame Street, has died. He was 93.
In the announcement, co-founder Joan Ganz Cooney said of Morrisett,
"Without Lloyd Morrisett, there would be no Sesame Street. It was he who first came up with the notion of using television to teach preschoolers basic skills, such as letters and numbers. He was a trusted partner and loyal friend to me for over fifty years, and he will be sorely missed.”
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Born in Oklahoma in 1929, Morrisett received a PhD in experimental psychology from Yale University. Reflecting on the mere beginnings of Sesame Street, Morisett recalled speaking with Cooney asking, “Joan, do you think television could be used to teach young children?” He got the idea from watching his then 3-year-old daughter sing along to multiple jingles that she memorized simply by watching television. He hypothesized that if children could learn songs from watching television, then they could also learn and memorize basic concepts through watching.
Seen by children in over 150 countries, Sesame Street was created during the height of the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War in 1969. Starting with simple concepts, such as letters and numbers, Sesame Street recently featured characters that are experiencing homelessness, in foster care, or have autism. It was also one of the first shows geared toward children that featured a diverse cast.
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