‘Sesame Street’ star Bob McGrath dies

Bob McGrath, an original cast member on Sesame Street, died Sunday. He was 90.

According to Hollywood reporter, Bob was at home with his family in New Jersey at the time of his death. “Hello Facebook friends, the McGrath family has some sad news to share,” McGrath’s family posted on his Facebook page Sunday. “Our father Bob McGrath, passed away today. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family.” (Hollywood also paid tribute to the actor on social media.)

Mr. McGrath joined the inaugural cast of “Sesame Street” in 1969 as Bob Johnson, the affable neighborhood music teacher, alongside three other human characters who sang, lived, worked and learned alongside their fluffy, fuzzy — and occasionally grouchy — Muppet counterparts.

But the iconic role almost didn’t happen. Mr. McGrath had spent much of the 1960s performing on TV and enjoying a blockbuster career as a folk singer in Japan. He was back in the United States when he bumped into his fraternity brother, Dave Connell, who had worked on the children’s show “Captain Kangaroo,” Mr. McGrath recounted in a 2004 interview with the Television Academy. Connell asked if Mr. McGrath was interested in auditioning for a new children’s program he was working on.