The 93-year-old Lloyd Morrisett, who co-founded Sesame Workshop and created Sesame Street, has passed away.
The tragic news was announced on Tuesday, January 24, on the Sesame Workshop Instagram account, but the reason of death was kept a secret.
In a statement, Sesame Workshop expressed its sorrow over the departure of co-founder Lloyd N. Morrisett, PhD, who passed away at the age of 93.
A statement read: “Sesame Workshop mourns the passing of our esteemed and beloved co-founder Lloyd N. Morrisett, PhD, who died at the age of 93.
“A wise, thoughtful, and above all kind leader of the Workshop for decades, Lloyd was fascinated by the power of technology and constantly thinking about new ways it could be used to educate.
His co-founder and close friend Joan Ganz Cooney continued, “Without Lloyd Morrisett, Sesame Street wouldn’t exist.
” It was he who first came up with the notion of using television to teach preschoolers basic skills, such as letters and numbers. He was a trusted partner and loyal friend to me for over fifty years, and he will be sorely missed.”
In November 1969, Sesame Street first shown on TV.
When Lloyd saw how engrossed his 3-year-old daughter Sarah was with the family TV in December 1965, he got the idea that perhaps television could be used to educate children.
A few months later, he asked Cooney the same issue at a dinner party, and they both agreed that “Sesame Street” was the solution.
In part inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and the fight against poverty, the team set out to make a TV show that would help underprivileged kids get ready for school.
So, in 1969, “Sesame Street” was born.
Up until 2000, Lloyd presided over the board of the workshop and remained a member until his passing.
From 1969 to 1998, Morrisett also served as president of The John and Mary R. Markle Foundation, where he introduced the foundation’s communications and information technology programme.
He was a vice president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching before joining the Markle Foundation.
