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

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, 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 Worksh ...

'' from 1969 to 2016.

Early life

McGrath was born on June 13, 1932, in

Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the confluence of the navigable Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River and Illinois River, the latter being a conduit for river barges and ...

, the son of Flora Agnes (née Hallagan) and Edmund Thomas McGrath, a farmer. He was named for the Irish patriot Robert Emmet. As a child he sang for his family while his mother played the piano. His mother enrolled him in the Roxy Theater's Amateur Program and he finished in second place. He graduated from Marquette High School. McGrath graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1954; he went to the school of music there. He was a member of the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club and the fraternity of

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Phi Gam and sometimes written as FIJI, is a North American social fraternity with 139 active chapters and 13 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania ...

. During fraternity events he washed dishes while David Connell, a fraternity brother, waited tables, a connection Connell used when ''Sesame Street'' casting began. After graduating, McGrath was inducted into the U.S. Army; he was in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for two years performing for the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra and booking for them. McGrath earned a Master of Music degree in voice from the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

in 1959.

Career

McGrath worked with

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

and was the featured tenor on Miller's NBC-TV television singalong series '' Sing Along with Mitch'' for four seasons from 1960 to 1964. He was a singer on the

Walt Kelly Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. (August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973) was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip ''Pogo (comic strip), Pogo''. He began his animation career in 1936 at The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney S ...

album ''Songs of the Pogo''. In the mid-1960s, McGrath became a recording artist in Japan, releasing a series of successful albums of Irish and other folk songs and ballads sung in Japanese."Irish Tenor From Teaneck Is the Toast of Tokyo; Bob McGrath Specializes in Japanese Folk Ballads to Flute Accompaniment"
''The New York Times'', July 5, 1967. Accessed December 30, 2007. This aspect of his career was the basis of his "secret" when he appeared on the game shows ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'' in 1966 and '' I've Got a Secret'' in 1967. From 1969 to 2016, McGrath was a regular cast member on ''

'', playing Bob Johnson. Along with series matriarch Susan Robinson, played by Loretta Long, McGrath was one of the two longest-lasting human characters on the series since the show's debut. A Noggin segment proclaimed the four decades of Bob when promoting ''Sesame Street'' on that network. In July 2016,

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and Television station, television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's ...

announced that McGrath would not return to the show for its 47th season because it would be retooling the series, but that McGrath would continue to represent the Workshop at public events. Sesame Workshop later announced that there would be talks to bring him back and that he would still represent ''Sesame Street''. Although McGrath had not been in any new material since season 45, he subsequently appeared in online videos for the show. He also returned for the 2019 TV special '' Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration''. McGrath said that his two favorite moments on ''Sesame Street'' were '' Christmas Eve on Sesame Street'' (a 1978 Christmas special that included a

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

of " The Gift of the Magi") and the 1983 sequence that candidly addressed the death of longtime character Mr. Hooper, played by his friend Will Lee, who had died the previous year.

Other accomplishments

For 38 years, McGrath was a regular fixture on '' Telemiracle'', a

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other cause. Most telethons feature heavy solicitatio ...

broadcast annually on CTV outlets in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. His final regular appearance at ''Telemiracle'' was in 2015, where performers at the show paid tribute to him. He returned for a special appearance in 2018. On March 3, 2006, he was awarded the Commemorative Medal for the Centennial of Saskatchewan for this work by

Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan The lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan () is the representative in Saskatchewan of the monarch, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada. The lieutenant governor of Sas ...

Lynda Haverstock. He was given the Saskatchewan Distinguished Service Award in 2013 by the Premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall. He received a Distinguished Service Award for his decades of service by the Variety Children's Charity Telethon in British Columbia. McGrath wrote many children's books, including ''Uh Oh! Gotta Go!'' (1996) and ''OOPS! Excuse Me Please!'' (1998). In 1995, he was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award. McGrath's ''Sing Me a Story'' was nominated for the 7th Annual Independent Music Awards for children's Album of the Year. On April 10, 2010, he was the first recipient of the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club Lifetime Achievement Award.

Personal life and death

McGrath and his wife Ann married in 1958. They had five children and eight grandchildren. The couple lived in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

, from 1958 until 2017, after which they moved to a ranch in Norwood, New Jersey. McGrath died from complications of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

at his home in Norwood on December 4, 2022, at the age of 90.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * *
Bob McGrath Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection December 19, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Bob 1932 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors A&M Records artists American children's musicians American children's writers American male television actors American male voice actors American tenors Male actors from Illinois Male actors from Teaneck, New Jersey Manhattan School of Music alumni Military personnel from Illinois Musicians from Illinois People from Norwood, New Jersey People from Ottawa, Illinois Singers from Illinois Singers from New Jersey University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni Writers from Bergen County, New Jersey Writers from Illinois