Sonia Manzano
| Sonia Manzano | |
|---|---|
Manzano at the 2015 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, DC
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| Born |
June 12, 1950 Linwood, New Jersey, United States |
| Residence | Upper West Side, New York City |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | High School of Performing Arts |
| Alma mater | Carnegie Mellon University |
| Occupation | Actress, screenwriter, author, speaker, singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Known for | Maria on Sesame Street |
| Board member of |
March of Dimes George Foster Peabody Awards Symphony Space Project Sunshine Book Club |
| Website | www |
Sonia Manzano (born June 12, 1950) is a retired American actress, screenwriter, author, speaker and singer-songwriter. She is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 until her retirement in 2015. She is also best known for providing the voice-over narration in several animated segments in the English version of the Swedish television show Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter. On Sesame Street VHS tapes and DVDs, she was the voice of "Visit Sesame Street on the web at www.sesamestreet.com." from 1998-2001.
Manzano was born in Linwood, New Jersey, and was raised in South Bronx. Her parents came from Puerto Rico. Manzano attended the High School of Performing Arts, where she began her acting career. She attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh on a scholarship.
In her junior year, she came to New York to star in the original production of the off-Broadway show Godspell. Manzano joined the production of Sesame Street in 1971, where she eventually began writing scripts for the series. On June 29, 2015, it was announced that Manzano would be retiring from the show after 44 years.
She has performed on the New York stage, in the critically acclaimed theatre pieces The Vagina Monologues and The Exonerated. She has written for the Peabody Award-winning children's series, Little Bill, and has written a parenting column for the Sesame Workshop web site called "Talking Outloud".
In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Manzano's name and picture.
Her children's book No Dogs Allowed, published by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing in 2004, is one of five books selected by the General Mills initiative "Spoonfuls of Stories". As part of that effort, Manzano is working with General Mills and its nonprofit partner, First Book, to encourage children to read and to help children across the United States gain access to books. The book has been adapted as a stage play. She is also the author of The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (2014).
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