Actor, recording artist, author, and original cast member on Sesame Street, Bob McGrath, passed away on December 4, 2022 from complications from a stroke at his home in Norwood, New Jersey at age 90.
News of his passing was shared on his official Facebook page by his family:
Robert Emmett McGrath was born on June 13, 1932 in Ottawa, Illinois. After graduating from Marquette High School, he went on to study and graduate from the University of Michigan where he was a member of the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club and of the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. After graduating McGrath joined the U.S. Army and lived in Germany for two years where he performed for the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra.
McGrath then earned a Master of Music degree in voice from Manhattan School of Music in 1959.
Prior to his career with Sesame Street from 1969 to 2016, McGrath made a name for himself on Mitch Miller’s NBC-TV television singalong series Sing Along with Mitch for four seasons from 1960 to 1964 and as a well-known recording artist in Japan, releasing a series of successful albums of Irish and other folk songs and ballads sung in Japanese.
In addition to his work on Sesame Street, McGrath is also known for his role in 3:10 to Yuma as well as his many children’s books including Uh Oh! Gotta Go! and OOPS! Excuse Me Please!
REELated:
McGrath touched so many of our childhoods and many took to social media to pay their respects:
It was Bob McGrath who sang Who are the People in Your Neighborhood
McGrath, a father to five and a grandfather to thirteen, is survived by his wife Ann Logan Sperry.