The face is instantly recognizable to millions of Sesame Street viewers who have grown up with Gordon, the on air personality who has offered comfort and friendly guidance to two generations of children. Roscoe Orman, who has portrayed this beloved character for thirty-two years, is now the author of Sesame Street Dad: Evolution of an Actor.
As important as his presence on this classic children’s television program are Mr. Orman’s ongoing contributions to theater during his forty-year professional career. His acting credentials are impressive and he, along with Ossie Davis, Morgan Freeman and untold numbers of other black actors helped define Black Theater as we now know it.
A strong element of Sesame Street Dad is Orman’s belief in honing the onstage and film personification of the black male, reestablishing the concepts of honor and integrity. His appearance on Sesame Street as a trustworthy friend to children places him at the forefront of this movement, his image being emblematic for trust, honesty and friendship for millions of Americans.
The actor continues to appear on Sesame Street and because of its favorable filming schedule is able to continue his acting career at the same time. He remains very involved with the Black Theater scene and is currently appearing in a one-man play, The Confessions of Stepin Fetchit. He has appeared in countless other plays, films, and Sesame Street outreach programs all over the United States and has just completed a short feature film entitled, Twilight’s Last Gleaming.
Sesame Street Dad features a number of photographs that profile some of the highlights from Orman’s career, many from his early years on the stage. There are also photos with a wide variety of guests from Sesame Street that include Hillary Rodham Clinton, Denzel Washington, Gregory Hines, Lily Tomlin, B.B. King, Julianne Moore, Yolanda King, Gordon Parks — the list goes on. About the Author
A multi-faceted performer with over forty years of experience as an actor and entertainer in theater, film and television, Roscoe Orman’s career, particularly as the beloved Gordon Robinson on TV’s most highly acclaimed children’s program Sesame Street, has touched literally millions of people the world over. Orman studied acting at Circle In The Square Theatre School and singing at the Manhattan School of Music. An early member of the Free Southern Theater in the mid-1960s, he toured throughout the South for two years and was also a founding member of Harlem, New York’s famed New Lafayette Theatre from 1967 to 1972. As an award-winning theater actor, he has performed in over 50 productions on the stages of Broadway, off-Broadway, regional, and repertory theaters across the country.
Orman made his film debut in the title role of Universal Pictures’ Willie Dynamite in 1973 and has also appeared in Follow That Bird, FX, Striking Distance, New Jersey Drive, Full Court Press, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, and Twilight’s Last Gleaming, his most recent film project. In addition to the multiple Emmy Award-winning Sesame Street, television audiences have seen him on such programs as Sanford and Son, Kojak, All My Children, Hard Time on Planet Earth, A Man Called Hawk, Law and Order, Cosby, and Sex and the City. A busy voice-over artist, Orman has narrated and/or hosted such documentaries as Langston Hughes: The Dreamkeeper for PBS, Heritage of the Black West for National Geographic, Lifeline for the Discovery Channel, and Images in Black and White for ESPN.
Mr. Orman has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean with his Gordon of Sesame Street concerts and with Matt Robinson’s one-character play, The Confessions of Stepin Fetchit. He is a board member at Luna Stage where he also teaches acting.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
There was one particularly memorable moment which for me stands out as a powerful example of the service provided by the work we do on Sesame Street. Sometime in the mid-1980s I performed my Gordon show before a large audience at a local college auditorium in Topeka, Kansas, under the auspices of the areas PBS-TV affiliate. My performance that day was highlighted by what began as a casual invitation halfway through the show for a few kids from the audience to come forward and join me but which unexpectedly led to a gradual but irreversible invasion of the stage by every single child in the 500-plus seat theater. After a few feeble attempts to stem the rushing tide, I finally surrendered and accepted this new configuration as part of the event, in the process learning a valuable lesson. Never again would I extend such a tempting invitation to an audience of preschoolers.
During the customary meet-and-greet session after the show, a chair was positioned outside of the theater, allowing for a long single-file line of children and their accompanying adults to approach me one by one. Despite its size and enthusiasm, the crowd was patient, polite, and appreciative in the warm and pleasant afternoon sun. About midway through the line, a young girl of approximately seven or eight years of age slowly approached me, her mother moving rather apprehensively alongside the wall facing my chair. Although the woman’s quiet anxiety had caught my attention, I was totally unprepared for what followed.
As the girl reached me, her arms opened for a hug (one of the frequent and most enviable rewards I receive for my work) and, without saying a word, wrapped her little arms around my neck. I couldnt help but notice the unusually ardent, almost desperate quality of her embrace, and as I looked up to see her mothers reaction to this scene, tears were streaming down her emotion-filled face as she uncontrollably, but silently, sobbed. After what seemed like much longer than the several seconds that had actually transpired, the child released me, I composed myself to ask her name, she told me, I handed her an autographed photo, and the procession continued. When the last person on line had finally been greeted and I began to wrap up my visit, I saw the mother walking toward me, her tears now subsided and her hand extended to grab mine. In the course of expressing her gratitude, she explained that her daughter had been sexually abused by a family member some time ago and that I was actually the first adult male that she had been either able or willing to approach since the incident had taken place. As I looked into this mothers eyes, I held back my own tears and knew that the humbling effect of this encounter would stay with me for a very long time. I also knew that there were countless other families and individuals around the globe whose needs had been and would continue to be met by Sesame Street in ways that none of us will ever fully know. This had become just another part of our unique job description. All the fame, fortune, and artistic fulfillment in the world could not begin to compete with the honor and distinction of such service.
