Christopher Cerf (born August 19, 1941) is an American author, composer-lyricist, voice actor, and record and television producer. He has contributed music to ''

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) ...

,'' and co-created and co-produced the PBS literacy education television program ''

Between the Lions ''Between the Lions'' is an American animated/live-action/puppet children's television series designed to promote reading. The show was a co-production between WGBH in Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd., in New York City, in association with Mis ...

''.

Biography

Cerf's father was

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

co-founder, publisher, editor and, TV panelist

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

. His mother was journalist and children's book publisher

Phyllis Fraser Phyllis Cerf Wagner (born Helen Brown Nichols; April 13, 1916 – November 24, 2006), also known as Phyllis Fraser, was an American socialite, writer, publisher, and actress. She was a co-founder of Beginner Books. Early life Fraser was born H ...

. His father was Jewish and his mother Catholic. Cerf attended the

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admis ...

and graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. He was married to Geneviève Charbin who is a Catholic of French descent. Cerf and Katherine Vaz were married on June 21, 2015. The wedding announcement appears in the, Friday, July 10, 2015, edition of the New York Times, references the date of the marriage: "Their wedding took place on the anniversary of their first date, the first day of summer. It was also Father’s Day, chosen in homage to Ms. Vaz’s father, August Mark Vaz, who died two years earlier." After his father's death, his mother remarried ex-New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr.

Musical compositions

In the early 1960s, he was involved as a writer and performer on musical satires released by The Harvard Lampoon. Since its first season in 1969, Cerf has played a role in the creation and production of the ''

'' television program, most notably as a regular contributor of music and lyrics, and as the producer of many of its music albums. In the process, he has won two Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards for songwriting and music production. Since writing and performing his first song for ''Sesame Street'', "Count It Higher" (1973) in Season 5, Cerf has written or co-written over 200 songs featured on the program, including "Put Down the Duckie", "The Word Is No", "Dance Myself to Sleep", " Monster in the Mirror", and parody songs as "Born To Add", "Letter B", "Wet Paint", and " Furry Happy Monsters". Cerf also played a role in the ongoing funding of ''Sesame Street'', founding and serving as the original editor-in-chief of Sesame Workshop's books, records, and toys division. In addition to his contributions to ''Sesame Street'', Cerf's musical material has appeared on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', ''

The National Lampoon Radio Hour ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' was a comedy radio show which was created, produced and written by staff from ''National Lampoon'' magazine. The show ran weekly, for a little over a year, from November 17, 1973 to December 28, 1974. Orig ...

'', ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...

'', '' Square One Television'', ''

'', and in numerous Muppet productions, and his songs have been performed by Paul Simon,

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

, Johnny Cash,

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and ...

Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. Chapman is best known for her hit singles "Fast Car" and "Give Me One Reason". Chapman was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she released ...

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

, Randy Travis,

The Four Tops ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...

, Smokey Robinson, Bonnie Raitt,

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

, Little Richard,

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

, Jimmy Buffett, Bart Simpson, and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

's José Carreras. The blond, curly-haired Muppet character from ''Sesame Street'' is his namesake and the lead singer of the rock group "Chrissy and the Alphabeats."

1963–70: Cerf at Random House

Before joining ''Sesame Street'', Cerf spent eight years as a senior editor at

(co-founded by his father in 1927), where he worked with authors

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

, Abbie Hoffman,

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

Richard Fariña Richard George Fariña ( Spanish IPA: ) (March 8, 1937 – April 30, 1966) was an American folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist. Early years and education Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of an Irish mother, ...

, and

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Modern Library's Board of Advisors.

Collaborations with Marlo Thomas

Cerf edited and produced the

Marlo Thomas Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom ''That Girl'' (1966–1971) and her children's franchise '' Free to Be... You and ...

& Friends' '' Free to Be... a Family'' book, album and TV special. The book reached No. 1 on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' bestseller list within a week of its publication in 1987, and the show received a prime-time Emmy as the year's outstanding children's special. Cerf and Thomas collaborated again, co-editing and co-producing '' Thanks & Giving: All Year Long'', a book and CD about generosity and sharing (and their polar opposites, selfishness and thoughtlessness). Royalties from the project, for which Thomas and Cerf won a 2006

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 ...

, go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, founded by Thomas' father,

Danny Thomas Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz; January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an American actor, singer, nightclub comedian, producer, and philanthropist. He created and starred in one of the most successful and long-running sitc ...

, in 1962.

''Between the Lions''

Cerf served as Executive Producer, and Music and Audio Producer, of ''

'', the children's literacy series that his company, Sirius Thinking, Ltd., created for PBS. ''Between the Lions'' has twice won the Television Critics' Award as the nation's outstanding children's television program, and, in its first six seasons on the air, the show won six Emmy Awards. (In 2006, ''Between the Lions'' was nominated for three more Emmys, including Outstanding Children's Show.) In two independent studies, conducted by the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

and Mississippi State University, the program has also demonstrated success in helping children – including those at the highest risk of literacy failure – to learn how to read.

''Lomax, the Hound of Music''

In 2008, Cerf served as co-creator (with

Norman Stiles Norman Stiles (born December 4, 1942) is a television writer best known for his work on the show ''Sesame Street''. Stiles worked on the show from 1971 until 1997. Stiles is perhaps best known for writing the episode segments about the death of t ...

and Louise Gikow), Executive producer and writer of the PBS Kids series '' Lomax, the Hound of Music.'' The show, which debuted in the winter of 2008, is a children's series featuring "a good-natured, melody-obsessed puppet pooch named Lomax, his fluffy feline sidekick Delta, and their human companion, Amy, on a tune-filled train ride crisscrossing the musical landscape of America. With the help – and full participation – of real kids on the train, on location, and the viewers at home, Lomax and his friends doggedly pursue their mutual passion: tracking down the wonderful songs that form the heart of our nation's diverse musical heritage." The show had educational credentials. Aware that many American children do not receive any formal musical education, Cerf, Stiles and Gikow based ''Lomax'' on the music education curriculum created by the music educator John Feierabend, PhD, proven to increase children's musical ability and intelligence. It included appearances by

Larry Campbell Larry W. Campbell (born 28 February 1948) is a Canadian politician that served as the 37th mayor of Vancouver, Canada from 2002 until 2005 and since 2005 has been a member of the Senate of Canada. Before he was mayor, Campbell worked for th ...

and Tom Chapin. ''Lomax'' ran for only one season.

Humorous writings

Cerf also work as an author and satirist. In 1970, he helped launch the '' National Lampoon'', serving as a Contributing Editor from its first issue until the mid-1970s, and in 1978, he co-conceived and co-edited with Tony Hendra,

and Rusty Unger the journalistic parody '' Not The New York Times''. ''The Experts Speak,'' the "compendium of authoritative misinformation" that Cerf co-authored with

Victor Navasky Victor Saul Navasky (born July 5, 1932) is an American journalist, editor and academic. He is publisher emeritus of ''The Nation'' and George T. Delacorte Professor Emeritus of Professional Practice in Magazine Journalism at Columbia University. H ...

in 1984, has recently been reissued. In 1986, Cerf collaborated with ''National Lampoon'' colleague

Henry Beard Henry Nichols Beard (born June 7, 1945) is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine ''National Lampoon (magazine), National Lampoon'' and the author of several best-selling books. Life and career Beard, a great-grandson of 14t ...

on ''The Pentagon Catalog: Ordinary Products at Extraordinary Prices'', which offered readers the historic opportunity to obtain a free hex nut—valued at $2,043 by the

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it pro ...

Corporation—with every copy they purchased. (The book has a die-cut hole in its front cover and first few pages: the book was sold in clear plastic

shrink wrap Shrink may refer to: Common meanings *Miniaturization *Shrink, a slang term for: ** a psychiatrist ** a psychoanalyst ** a psychologist Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shrink'' (album), album by German indie rock/electronica group The Notwist ...

with a steel hex nut inside this hole, slightly less than flush with the cover. The shrink wrap displayed the hex nut and prevented it from falling out before the book was purchased.) '' The Official Politically Correct Dictionary'', also written with Beard, first appeared in 1992. In 2008, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of George W. Bush's victory speech aboard the U. S. S. ''Lincoln'', Cerf again collaborated with Victor Navasky to produce ''Mission Accomplished!'' based on America's military presence in Iraq.

Objections to the use of his music to break captive's will

In December 2008, the Associated Press reported that various musicians were coordinating their objections to the use of their music as a technique for softening up captives. The songs used were primarily heavy metal, but included songs from ''

''. The Associated Press reported that Cerf "was horrified to learn songs from the children's TV show were used in interrogations". As a consequence, he researched how music is being used for military purposes and published his findings in the documentary movie ''Songs of War''.

Selected bibliography

* ''

Alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

'', with Michael K. Frith as by "I*N FL*M*NG" (

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

parody of Ian Fleming's

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

novels), 1962 * ''The Vintage Anthology of Science Fantasy'' (editor), 1966 * ''The World's Largest Cheese,'' 1968 * ''The Chicago Conspiracy Trial: The Chicago Conspiracy vs. The Washington Kangaroos / Official Pogrom'' (editor, with Michael Frith), New York: Domesday Books, 1969 * ''Official National Lampoon Bicentennial Calendar 1976'' (with Bill Effros), 1975 * ''Not the New York Times'' (co-editor, with Larry Durocher, Josh Feigenbaum, Tony Hendra,

, and Rusty Unger), 1978 * ''The 80's: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade 1980–1989'' (co-editor, with Tony Hendra and Peter Elbling), 1979 (, aperback * ''The Experts Speak: The Definitive Compendium of Authoritative Misinformation'' (with

), 1984 ( aperback ardcover, 1990, 1998 () * ''The Pentagon Catalog: Ordinary Products at Extraordinary Prices'' (with

), 1986 () * ''Marlo Thomas & Friends: Free to Be... a Family'' (co-editor, with

), 1987 * ''The Book of Sequels'' (with

, Sarah Durkee, and Sean Kelly), 1990 * ''Small Fires: Letters From the Soviet People to

Ogonyok ''Ogoniok'' ( rus, Огонёк, t=Spark, p=ɐɡɐˈnʲɵk, a=Ru-огонёк.ogg; pre-reform orthography: ''Огонекъ'') was one of the oldest weekly illustrated magazines in Russia. History and profile ''Ogoniok'' has issued since . I ...

Magazine, 1987–1990'' (co-editor, with Marina Albee), 1990 (, aperback * ''The Gulf War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions'' (co-editor, with Micah L. Sifry), 1991 () * ''

The Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook ''The Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook'' is a book written by Henry Beard and Christopher Cerf. It was published in 1992 by Villard Books in New York, by Grafton in London, and, by Random House of Canada Limited in Toronto. ...

'' (with

), 1992 (), 1993 * ''The Official Sexually Correct Dictionary and Handbook'' (with

), 1995 () * ''The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions'' (co-editor, with Micah L. Sifry), 2003 () * ''Marlo Thomas & Friends: Thanks and Giving: All Year Long'' (co-editor, with

), 2004 () * '' Blackie: The Horse Who Stood Still'' (with Paige Peterson (artist)), 2006 () * ''Mission Accomplished!'' (or ''How We Won the War in Iraq),'' (with Victor S. Navasky), 2008 () * ''Spinglish: The Definitive Dictionary of Deliberately Deceptive Language'' (with

), 2015 () * ''A Skunk in My Bunk!'', 2019

References

External links

Profile of Christopher Cerf in ''The New York Times'', February 1, 2004

A selection of songs and music videos from ''Between the Lions''

Christopher Cerf at ''Mark's Very Large National Lampoon Site''

"Americans United to Beat the Dutch" pages at the official ''National Lampoon'' Web Site
* ; Interviews
Audio interview of Christopher Cerf by Linda Wertheimer of NPR about ''The Iraq War Reader'' and the U.S. military's use of ''Sesame Street'' songs as a psychological weapon during the interrogation of Iraqi prisoners, June 7, 2003

* [https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05022008/profile3.html 2008 Interview with Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky about their book, ''Mission Accomplished!'' (or ''How We Won the War in Iraq''), on ''Bill Moyers' Journal''] {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerf, Christopher 1941 births Living people American lyricists American satirists American male singers American male voice actors American male non-fiction writers American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Welsh descent Daytime Emmy Award winners Grammy Award winners The Harvard Lampoon alumni National Lampoon people 20th-century American composers American male songwriters 20th-century American pianists American male pianists American male composers American parodists Parody novelists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians