Norman Stiles (born December 4, 1942) is a television writer best known for his work on the show ''

Sesame Street ''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 (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''. Stiles worked on the show from 1971 until 1997. Stiles is perhaps best known for writing the episode segments about the death of the character ''

Mr. Hooper Mr. Harold Hooper (played by Will Lee) was one of the first four human characters to appear on the television series ''Sesame Street''. Created by producer and writer Jon Stone, Mr. Hooper is the original proprietor of Hooper's Store, the neighbo ...

'' (whose actor,

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hooper' ...

, had died of a heart attack in 1982). Stiles wanted to convey that expressing grief for someone who had died was difficult for both adults and children. Instead of providing an explanation, the adults of Sesame Street tell

Big Bird Big Bird is a Muppet character designed by Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love for the long-running children's television show ''Sesame Street''. An eight-foot two-inch (249 cm) tall bright yellow anthropomorphic bird, he can roller skat ...

, when he asked why Mr. Hooper had died, that there was no real reason, that it happened, as

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

tells Big Bird, "Just because". The show's outside experts advised Stiles and the producers to remove the line because they were concerned that an open-ended explanation would not be enough for children, but Stiles kept the line because it was an acknowledgement. As part of the ''Sesame Street'' writing team, Stiles received eight

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

s. He also wrote for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

s 1976–1977

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in 1 ...

''. In 2011 he participated in the ''

Old Jews Telling Jokes ''Old Jews Telling Jokes'' is a web series launched in 2009 created and directed by Sam Hoffman and produced by Eric Spiegelman and Tim Williams for Jetpack Media, Inc. It has since gone on to garner millions of unique views over several original ...

'' program adapted from the book by Eric Spiegelman and shown in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

References

External links

* * * 1942 births Living people Sesame Street crew American male screenwriters American television writers American male television writers {{US-tv-writer-stub