QUEEN OF SESAME STREET: Iconic actress/singer Dr. Loretta Long is a prominent global figure in her own right

She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard. (Proverbs 31:16 ESV)

SO LEGENDARY

**PAVING THE WAY —** A beloved, globally-acclaimed actress, voice artist, singer, educator, and accomplished media personality in her own right, Dr. Loretta Long is widely known for having played the character of Susan Robinson on Sesame Street since its ceremonious debut in 1969.

In case you don’t know her, Dr. Loretta Long would like to introduce herself.

Err…reintroduce herself.

Suitably known as Loretta Mae Moore, Dr. Long is a native of Paw Paw, Michigan, a rural Berrien County establishment that is comprised of roughly 3,534 residents, according to the latest U. S. census.

A beloved, globally-acclaimed actress, voice artist, singer, educator, and accomplished media personality in her own right, Dr. Long is widely known for having played the character of Susan Robinson on Sesame Street since its ceremonious debut in 1969.

Having enjoyed an illustrious acting and singer career, Dr. Long acquired a Doctorate Degree in Urban Education in 1973 from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst while she was starring on Sesame Street.

**FOR STARTERS —** Before Sesame Street found its ways into American households, Dr. Long served as co-host of the WNET program SOUL!, a weekly music, cultural, social and artistic PBS program, which debuted on September 12, 1968.

To her distinctly unique credit, she has acted in a number of notable musicals, most notably Guys and Dolls, and she appeared on the Flip Wilson Show with other Sesame Street cast members during its inaugural season.

Interestingly, in the early years of her professional career, she voiced a few female Muppet voices, including Roosevelt Franklin’s mother, Suzetta, as well as other Muppets, during which a female voice was needed.

In fact, Long’s character, Susan, and Bob — widely known as Bob McGrath — are the only two remaining non-puppeteer actors on Sesame Street from its first episode before they were phased out of the show sometime in 2015.

Will Lee, who is famously known, Mr. Hooper, meanwhile, passed away in 1982.

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**TRUE LEGEND —** *In 1975, Dr. Long released a highly-anticipated single under her own name on RCA Records entitled, “Rainy Day Friend,” with a B-side entitled “July the 12th, 1939.”*

Besides having found her fervent niche on Sesame Street, Dr. Long has become a universal fixture in her own right, considering she serves as a consultant and public speaker on vast array of issues of multiculturalism and education.

Before Sesame Street found its ways into American households, Dr. Long served as co-host of the WNET program SOUL!, a weekly music, cultural, social and artistic PBS program, which debuted on September 12, 1968.

Dr. Long in fact, co-hosted that show with Alvin Poussaint, a prominent black Harvard psychologist for approximately three months before she subsequently co-hosted with then-future SOUL! sole co-host Ellis Haizlip).

At the same time, Dr. Long worked as a substitute teacher in New York City, a position she retained during her early days working for Sesame Street. That job, by all accounts, occasionally caused confusion for students who had watched her on Sesame Street before coming to school, in large part because they witnessed her in their classroom later that same morning.

As for her well-publicized musical career, Dr. Long recorded Susan Sings’ Songs from Sesame Street (or Scepter Records SPS-584) in 1970, including the “ABC Song” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”

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That album subsequently reached No. 86 on Billboard’s Top LP’s chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category “Best Recording for Children” in 1971 which, ironically, had lost to another Sesame Street recording.

Then in 1975, Dr. Long released a highly-anticipated single under her own name on RCA Records entitled, “Rainy Day Friend,” with a B-side entitled “July the 12th, 1939.”

**WHERE IT ALL STARTED —** *Suitably known as Loretta Mae Moore, Dr. Long is a native of Paw Paw, Michigan, a rural Berrien County establishment that is comprised of roughly 3,534 residents, according to the latest U. S. census.*

For more information about Dr. Loretta Long, or to inquire about a public appearance or speaking engagement, connect with her via social at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrLorettaLong/. Also, send email to: [email protected].

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Andre Johnson is the award-winning Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter of sports for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send email to [email protected] or to [email protected]. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist or Instagram at @makingheadlinenews.