Bob McGrath

Bob McGrath was an American singer, actor, and author best remembered for his portrayal of kindly music teacher Bob Johnson on the children's show Sesame Street. Introduced during the show's premiere episode in 1969, McGrath remained with the Sesame Street cast for a remarkable 48 seasons. Prior to this, he was the featured singer on Mitch Miller's Sing Along with Mitch program and enjoyed unexpected success as a Japanese recording artist. McGrath also wrote a number of children's' books and albums and spent nearly four decades appearing on Telemiracle, a Canadian charity telethon. Following the 2016 season of Sesame Street, he continued to represent the show in various ways and reprised his Bob Johnson character during its 50th anniversary special in 2019. Born on June 13, 1932, McGrath grew up in the town of Ottawa, Illinois. He developed a talent for singing at a young age and was later involved in local theater programs. He attended the University of Michigan's School of Music where he was a member of the Men's Glee Club and later received a music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Following a stint in the U.S. Army's symphony orchestra, McGrath found work as Mitch Miller's featured tenor on the popular NBC music and variety show Sing Along With Mitch which ran until 1964. His experience as a television singer helped him branch out into recording and he rather unexpectedly became a sensation in Japan where he recorded a series of albums translating pop and folk songs into Japanese. In 1969, he was hired by producer David Connell, an old University of Michigan fraternity brother, to join the cast of a new children's program called Sesame Street. As the affable music teacher Bob Johnson, he was one of several human characters to inhabit the Sesame Street neighborhood and quickly became known for singing classic songs like "The People in Your Neighborhood" and "Believe in Yourself." Over the subsequent decades, McGrath put a great deal of care and heart into Bob Johnson, inspiring, educating, and entertaining generations of children for whom Sesame Street was a reliable and comforting presence. A humanitarian by nature, he also found time to make regular appearances on the Saskatchewan-based telethon, Telemiracle, which first aired in the late '70s and has continued well into the 21st century. In addition to his regular work on Sesame Street, McGrath penned several popular children's books including Uh Oh! Gotta Go! and Oops! Excuse Me! Please!. He also remained an active recording artist and released beloved children's albums like 1995's Sing Me a Story as well as all-ages fare like 2006's Christmas Sing Along. In 2016 the Sesame Workshop decided to retool the long-running series and McGrath's Bob Johnson character more or less retired from the show. Over the next few years, he continued to promote the show in a smaller capacity and even reprised Johnson on the 2019 special Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration. McGrath died at his home in Norwood, New Jersey on December 4, 2022.
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