Black History
May 21 at 4:02 PM ·The Original Gordon & The Voice Behind The First Black Sesame Street Character
Matthew Thomas Robinson Jr. (January 1, 1937 – August 5, 2002) was an American actor, writer and television producer.
Through the years, various actors played Sesame Street's “Gordon,” but the first one to assume the role was Matt Robinson (father of Holly Robinson-Peete). He played the character until 1972. He was also one of the show's producers.
When Sesame Street began in 1969, not only did Robinson play Gordon, but he also provided the voice of the puppet Roosevelt Franklin, the first muppet influenced by aspects of African-American culture and known by many as the first Black Sesame Street character.
Roosevelt Franklin had initially been considered one of the show’s main characters. As such, he had been present and accounted for on store shelves, right alongside the Cookie Monster and Ernie and Bert. In fact, his 1971 record album, the wonderfully named The Year of Roosevelt Franklin, was the first Sesame Street LP devoted entirely to a single character.
Franklin taught kids numbers and letters, of course, but also to stay away from poison, to keep out of the street, and to have pride in themselves, no matter what.
In one skit, Roosevelt Franklin breaks the stereotypes about Africa by teaching students at the Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School that Africa is more than just a jungle and what they see on the show Tarzan.
Despite his popularity on the show, Franklin was eventually run off Sesame Street after complaints surfaced that he was a negative African-American stereotype, both because of his slang language and because his school was uncharacteristically rowdy for the program.
Matt Robinson also wrote the series’ first themed storybook, Gordon of Sesame Street’s Storybook.
Expanding into other realms of television, Robinson wrote and produced for such iconic shows as The Cosby Show, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, The Waltons, Eight is Enough, and Captain Kangaroo. Not one to limit himself to the small screen, he also wrote and produced the 1974 film, Amazing Grace.
