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

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. Long is also a consultant and

public speaker Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

on issues of

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

and education.

Career

Long earned her Ph.D. in urban education in 1973 from the

University of Massachusetts, Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

while she was starring on ''Sesame Street''. She has acted in musicals (such as '' Guys and Dolls'') and appeared on the '' Flip Wilson Show'' with other ''Sesame Street'' cast members during its first season. In the early years, she voiced a few female Muppet characters, including Suzetta Something, Roosevelt Franklin's mother, one of the Anything Muppet backup singers in "Mahna Mahna", and other Muppets where a female voice was needed. Long's character, Susan Robinson, is the only surviving non-puppeteer actor on Sesame Street from its first episode; Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) died in 1982, Matt Robinson (the original Gordon) left the show in 1972 and died in 2002, and Bob McGrath ( Bob) left the show in 2016 and died in 2022. Before ''

'', Long served as co-host of the WNET program '' Soul!'' a weekly music, cultural, social and artistic PBS program, from its premier broadcast on September 12, 1968 (when she co-hosted with Alvin Poussaint, 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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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 earned her Bachelor of Arts from Western Michigan University in 1960. 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 Susan is a feminine given name, the usual English version of Susanna or Susannah. All are versions of the Hebrew name Shoshana, which is derived from the Hebrew ''shoshan'', meaning ''lotus flower'' in Egyptian, original derivation, and severa ...

, 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 S ...

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 traditional repetitive children's song, folksong, and drinking song. The song has been noted for its similarities to "Molodejnaya", a song appearing in the 1938 Soviet musical film '' Volga-Volga'' ...

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

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in the category Best Recording for Children 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 owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

called "Rainy Day Friend" with a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

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 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actors from Mercer County, New Jersey Actresses from Michigan Actresses from New Jersey American television actresses American voice actresses Living people People from East Windsor, New Jersey People from Paw Paw, Michigan RCA Records artists Scepter Records artists Sigma Alpha Iota University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education alumni