Christopher Cerf

Christopher Cerf (born August 19, 1941) is an American author, composer-lyricist, voice actor, and record and television producer. He is known for his musical contributions to Sesame Street, for co-creating and co-producing the award-winning PBS literacy education television program Between the Lions, and for his humorous articles and books.

His father was co-founder of Random House, publisher, editor and TV panelist Bennett Cerf. His mother was journalist and children's book publisher Phyllis Fraser. His father was Jewish and his mother Roman Catholic. Cerf attended the Deerfield Academy and then graduated from Harvard College. He was married to Geneviève Charbin who is a Catholic of French descent. He married Katherine Vaz in July 2015. After his father's death, his mother remarried ex-New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr.

Since its first season in 1970, Cerf has played a significant role in the creation and production of the Sesame Street television program, most notably as a regular contributor of music and lyrics, and as the producer of many of its music albums. In the process, he has won two Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards for songwriting and music production. Since writing and performing his first song for Sesame Street, "Count It Higher" (1973) in Season 5, Cerf has written or co-written over 200 songs featured on the program, including "Put Down the Duckie", "The Word Is No", "Dance Myself to Sleep", "Monster in the Mirror", and parody songs as "Born To Add", "Letter B", "Wet Paint", and "Furry Happy Monsters". Cerf also played a pivotal role in the ongoing funding of Sesame Street, founding and serving as the original editor-in-chief of Sesame Workshop's books, records, and toys division.

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