Sesame Street creator Lloyd Morrisett has died

Enlarge image

Morrisett with »Sesame Street« characters (at the 2019 Kennedy Center tribute):

Photo Credit: Greg Allen/Greg Allen/Invision/AP

The US psychologist and co-creator of "Sesame Street" Lloyd Morrisett has died.

The idea for the children's show was 93 years old, as the Sesame Workshop organization announced on Twitter.

"Lloyd leaves an immense and indelible legacy for generations of children around the world," the statement said.

As the head of the production company for decades, he was fascinated by the power of technology and always considered how it could be used for education.

Sesame Workshop also shared a statement from Morrisett's business partner, television producer Joan Ganz Cooney: "Without Lloyd Morrisett, Sesame Street would not exist.

It was he who first came up with the idea of ​​teaching preschool children basic skills like letters and numbers through television.

He was a reliable partner and loyal friend to me for over 50 years and we will miss him dearly.«

Morrisett was born in Oklahoma City in 1929.

As a teacher with a psychological background, he was always on the lookout for new teaching methods, especially for children from educationally disadvantaged families.

In 1968, together with Ganz Cooney, he founded the non-profit organization Children's Television Workshop, which was later renamed the Sesame Workshop.

In 1969, the duo created "Sesame Street," the US original of "Sesame Street."

As a key moment for the idea for »Sesame Street«, he later described how he saw his then three-year-old daughter Sarah sitting in front of the television one morning in 1965 – captivated by the station jingle while she waited for the cartoons to start.

"If television is so effective at conveying advertising to young children, could these methods not also be used to convey more substantial content?" he later described his basic idea.

The series is considered the most famous children's show in the world.

It has also been shown on German television since 1973.

Sesame Workshop is also developing other series and educational programs for children.

feb/dpa