Loretta Mae Long ( Moore; born October 4, 1938) is an American actress. She played the character of

Susan Robinson The Robinson family is a fictional family in the children's television series ''Sesame Street''. The family consists of husband Gordon, a high school science teacher, and his wife, Susan, a nurse. Later, the family expands to include their adopted ...

on ''

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) ...

'' from 1969 to 2017. Long is also a consultant and

public speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

on issues of

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

and education.

Career

Long earned her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in urban education in 1973 from the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, i ...

while she was starring on ''Sesame Street''. She has acted in musicals (such as ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'') and appeared on the ''

Flip Wilson Show ''The Flip Wilson Show'' is an hour-long variety show that originally aired in the US on NBC from September 17, 1970, to June 27, 1974. The show starred American comedian Flip Wilson; the program was one of the first American television programs s ...

'' with other ''Sesame Street'' cast members during its first season. In the early years, she voiced a few female Muppet voices, including Suzetta (

Roosevelt Franklin Roosevelt Franklin is a Muppet who was featured on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'' during the early 1970s. Fictional character biography He is purple with shaggy black hair that stands on end. His name is a play on the name ...

's mother) and one of the Anything Muppet backup singers in "Mahna Mahna", as well as other Muppets where a female voice was needed. Long's character,

, and

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

(

Bob McGrath Robert Emmett McGrath (June 13, 1932 – December 4, 2022) was an American actor, musician, and children's author best known for playing original human character and music teacher Bob Johnson on the long-running educational television series ' ...

) were the only two remaining non-puppeteer actors on Sesame Street from its first episode before they were phased out of the show in 2016; Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) died in 1982 and Matt Robinson (the original Gordon) left the show in 1972. Before ''

'', Long served as co-host of the

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

program ''SOUL!'' a weekly music, cultural, social and artistic

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

program, from its premier broadcast on September 12, 1968 (when she co-hosted with

Alvin Poussaint Alvin Francis Poussaint, M.D. (born May 15, 1934) is an American psychiatrist well known for his research on the effects of racism in the black community. He is a noted author, public speaker, and television consultant, and Dean of Students at ...

, the black Harvard psychologist) through December 5, 1968 (when she co-hosted with then-future ''SOUL!'' sole co-host Ellis Haizlip). At the same time, Long also was a substitute teacher in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. She continued to substitute-teach during her early days working for ''Sesame Street'', occasionally causing confusion for students who had watched her on ''Sesame Street'' before coming to school and then saw her in their classroom later that same morning.

Education

Long commuted to the University of Massachusetts on her days off from ''

'' to complete a Ph.D., awarded in 1973. Her dissertation, "'Sesame Street': A Space Age Approach to Education for Space Age Kids", examined the educational model used on ''Sesame Street''.

''Sesame Street''

Long's main role on ''

'', until the character was phased out in 2016, was Susan, wife of Gordon Robinson. At the beginning of the first season, her character was a housewife; afterwards, her role expanded to that of being a nurse, as well as the mother of adopted son Miles. Long lent her voice to various other Muppet segments on ''Sesame Street'', particularly during the early seasons. On the 8th episode of the first season (1969), she was the voice of the mother Muppet in the song "Five People in My Family."

Music

She recorded ''Susan Sings Songs from Sesame Street'' (

Scepter Records Scepter Records was an American record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. History Florence Greenberg founded Scepter Records from the $4,000 she received after she sold Tiara Records and the Shirelles to Decca Records. When the Shire ...

SPS-584) in 1970, including the " ABC Song" and "

If You're Happy and You Know It "If You're Happy and You Know It" is a popular repetitive children's and drinking song. The song has been noted for its similarities to "Molodejnaya", a song appearing in the 1938 Soviet musical film ''Volga-Volga''. History The origin of the melo ...

". The album reached #86 on Billboard's Top LP's chart and was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

in the category

Best Recording for Children The Grammy Award for Best Children's Album (from 2020: Grammy Award for Best Children's Music Album) is an honor presented since 2012 at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honor ...

in 1971, ultimately losing to another ''

'' recording. In 1975, Long released a single under her own name on

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

called "Rainy Day Friend" with a B-side titled "July the 12th, 1939".

Personal life

Long's father was a welder and her mother was a cosmetics sales representative. On February 10, 2010, Long was struck by a car as she crossed Route 130 near her home in East Windsor, New Jersey, suffering head injuries as a result. She was listed in fair condition following the accident and made a full recovery.Chiappardi, Matt
"East Windsor: ''Sesame Street'' actress hit by car on Route 130"
CentralJersey.com, February 11, 2010; accessed August 18, 2020.
"East Windsor - A township resident and cast member of the iconic children’s television show ''Sesame Street'' was hospitalized Tuesday night with head and leg injuries after she was hit by car while crossing Route 130, according to township police. Loretta Long, 71, of Einstein Way, was taken to Capital Health Systems Fuld Campus in Trenton around 6:45 p.m. after a car making a left turn from Dutch Neck Road onto Route 130 struck her, police said."

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Loretta 1938 births Living people Actresses from Michigan University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education alumni RCA Records artists Scepter Records artists People from East Windsor, New Jersey People from Paw Paw, Michigan 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American television actresses African-American actresses American voice actresses