Loretta Long
| Loretta Long | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Loretta Mae Moore October 4, 1938 Paw Paw, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, singer, educator |
| Years active | 1969–present |
Loretta Mae Long (née Moore) (born October 4, 1938) is an African American actress, singer, media personality, and educator, best known for playing Susan Robinson on Sesame Street, having starred on the show since its debut in 1969.
Born in Paw Paw, Michigan, she earned her Ph.D. in urban education in 1973 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst 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.
As of July 2016, Long's character Susan, along with Big Bird / Oscar the Grouch (Caroll Spinney), is one of only two remaining cast members who were on the first show and have been played by the same actors since the show began. In the early years, she voiced a few female Muppet voices including Roosevelt Franklin's mother, Suzetta and other Muppets where a female voice was needed.
Long, in addition to starring on Sesame Street, is a consultant and public speaker on issues of multiculturalism and education.
Long was born as Loretta Mae Moore in Paw Paw, Michigan on October 4, 1938.
Before the days of Sesame Street, Long served as co-host of the WNET -T / Channel 13 program SOUL!, a weekly music, cultural, social and artistic PBS progam. She co-hosted that video-taped program from its premier broadcast on Sept. 12, 1968 (when she co-hosted with Alvin Poussaint, the noted 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. She continued to substitute teach during her early days working for Sesame Street, occasionally causing confusion for her students who had watched her on Sesame Street before coming to school and then in their classroom later that same morning.
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