Will Lee Will Lee ( August 6 , 1908 - December 7 , 1982 ) played Mr . Hooper on " Sesame Street " , from the show ' s debut in 1969 until his death . Early Career . Will Lee was born in Brooklyn , New York , and began his career as an actor on stage during the height of the Great Depression . The son of a bookbinder , who had lost his job due to the economic changes , Lee worked odd jobs in the city , and absorbed the intellectual and artistic atmospheres of Union Square and Greenwich Village . It was there that he became aware of the developing Worker ' s Laboratory Theater , a collective which performed experimental works , often with Communist or other political overtones . Lee recalled his initiation into both the WLT and the acting profession : He became a full - fledged member in 1930 , and established himself as a character performer with several other high - profile , equally controversial theater groups , working with such notable figures as pioneering African - American performer / activist Paul Robeson , actor Franchot Tone ( later to receive an Oscar nomination ) , and playwright Elia Kazan . Lee subsequently became one of the founders of the Theater of Action , and a member of the Federal Theater Project , a government - funded group sponsored by the WPA ( Works Progress Administration ) , conceived during the Roosevelt administration both for employment relief and to stimulate theater in the United States . Lee performed in their 1935 " Living Newspaper " play " Triple - A Plowed Under " , an attempt to create a series of dramatic sketches based on news reports , and starred as the stingy , grotesquely comic Harpagon in the WPA version of Moliere ' s " The Miser " . Around 1936 , Lee became a member of the Group Theater , a New York collective of actors and dramatists which pushed for naturalism and a new style of acting , based in part on the teachings of Stanislavsky , and later leading to Lee Strasberg ’ s Method associated with Marlon Brando and his contemporaries . With the Group , he appeared in such Broadway shows as " Johnny Johnson " ( a mildly anti - war musical , playing a private and a photographer ) and two of Clifford Odets ' plays , " Night Music " ( in a bit part as a waiter ) and in " Golden Boy " , replacing John Garfield as the earnest cab driver Siggie . Outside of the Group Theater , he played Willie , a pinball machine addict , in the comedy " The Time of Your Life " ( with Gene Kelly ) . Lee also appeared in the occasional film shot in New York , most notably Alfred Hitchcock ' s 1942 thriller " Saboteur " , about a man framed for espionage . Lee had a small role as injured plant worker Rogers , testifying about the events and helping to set the plot gears in motion . On the war front itself , during World War II , Lee fought as a G . I . but also served in Army Special Services in Australia and Manila , where he received two citations for directing and staging shows for troops overseas . He also began teaching during this time . Blacklisted . After the war , Lee returned to the stage and also taught acting . He began appearing in more Hollywood films , usually in uncredited bits as waiters or cab drivers in such films as " A Song is Born " ( with Danny Kaye ) , " They Live By Night " ( directed by Theater of Action veteran Nicholas Ray ) and " The Life of Riley " ( based on an old - time radio sitcom ) . He also joined the Actor ' s Laboratory , a West Coast off - shoot of the Group , which was more directly leftist in its political content . This proved problematic when the Actor ' s Lab was formally accused of being a Communist front . In February 1948 , as the investigations of Joseph McCarthy and the concurrent tribunals of the House Un - American Activities Committee were gaining speed , Lee was one of four Actor ' s Lab members called to testify before the HUAC . All refused to answer whether they had ever been members of the Communist Party , and all were blacklisted . The Actor ' s Lab began to collapse as a result , but Lee , described by founder Joseph Papp as a stalwart and elder , remained with the group until 1950 , when he returned to New York . Back on the East Coast , Lee appeared off - Broadway in " The Shrike " ( 1952 ) ( as Jewish neighbor Tager ) and in " The World of Sholom Alecheim " , staged by fellow blacklist victims including Howard DaSilva , Jack Gilford , and Herschel Bernardi , as well as up and coming performers Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis . The actor still remained largely unemployable by most major studios , networks , and commercial theater groups for several years . However , Lee did appear in the 1953 independent film " The Little Fugitive " . Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story , " Little Fugitive " focused on a small boy running away to Coney Island , with Lee in one of his more prominent cinema roles , as a kindly boardwalk photographer trying to cheer the boy up . Director Morris Engel , in audio commentary for the more recent DVD release , praised the actor ' s naturalism and improvisation of action , with minimal direction from the filmmakers . Resurgence and Teaching . As the decade progressed , Lee ' s prospects improved , appearing in 1956 as Grandpa Hughes in the first season of the soap opera " As the World Turns " . While TV and film work was otherwise minimal , he received a new lease as a character actor on stage , playing lecherous concessionaire Grobert in the puppet - centered musical " Carnival ! " ( 1961 ) . He displayed his pantomime skills as the cursed mute King Sextimus in " Once Upon a Mattress " ( 1959 - 1960 ) , buoyantly chasing after young girls , and in " Incident at Vichy " ( 1964 - 1965 ) as the wordless " Old Jew , " a refugee clinging to the feather - bed which is his last possession . For his portrayal of hypocritical film mogul Herman Teppis in Norman Mailer ' s biting off - Broadway play " Deer Park " , Lee won the Drama Desk Award in 1967 . In 1969 , he was cast as Mr . Hooper , becoming a television fixture , but continued to appear on - stage , in such works as " Enemies " ( portraying Russian orderly Kon ) . Continuing as an acting teacher , Lee led classes at the New School for Social Research , Boston University , and Uta Hagen ' s Herbert Berghof Studio ( the latter concurrently with his " Sesame " work ) . He taught for nine years at the American Theater Wing , where his students included James Earl Jones . Jones spoke of Lee as one of his three greatest acting teachers : Outside of " Sesame Street " , Lee ' s later work included television movies , including the Arthur Miller scripted " Playing for Time " ( 1980 , with Vanessa Redgrave and Marisa Berenson ) as Auschwitz prisoner / electrician Schmuel . He had a supporting role in Sidney Lumet ' s film " Daniel " ( with Mandy Patinkin , Edward Asner , and Peter Friedman ) , released posthumously in 1983 . Lumet cast Lee as a judge presiding over a case loosely based on the Rosenbergs ; ironically , considering the actor ' s own past , Lee ' s character rules that even tenuous Communist affiliations should be explored as potential motives for any crime . Lee also worked in commercials , including a spot for Atari , as a grandfather learning to play Pac - Man from his granddaughter , and spots for Ocean Spray juice . Impact of Mr . Hooper . CTW president Joan Ganz Cooney , in " The New York Times " obituary for the actor , recalled that Lee " gave millions of children the message that the old and the young have a lot to say to each other . " On " Sesame Street , " Will Lee ' s Mr . Hooper ranked ahead of all live cast members in recognition by young audiences , according to a then recent survey cited by the newspaper . His bowtie and horn - rimmed reading glasses became his trademark . In 1970 , following the show ' s successful first season , Lee expressed his feelings about the show : In addition to being a staple of " Sesame Street " for over ten years , Will Lee portrayed Mr . Hooper in television specials ( " Christmas Eve on Sesame Street " , " A Special Sesame Street Christmas " ) , guest appearances ( " " in 1971 ) , stage appearances , countless , and parades . Lee ' s " Sesame Street " co - stars have often spoken of him fondly . Roscoe Orman discussed him in depth in his 2006 memoir : Caroll Spinney , who as Big Bird worked very closely with Lee , expressed similar sentiments : Halfway through Season 14 , Lee taped his final segments as Mr . Hooper in November , 1982 , and appeared with the rest of the cast in the Macy ' s Thanksgiving Day Parade . He died on December 7 1982 at a hospital in New York City from a heart attack at the age of 74 . Lee was never married and had no children and was survived by his sister Sophie Lee - Lubov who lived in Florida . Mr . Hooper ' s absence went unremarked upon for the remainder of that season , with pre - taped segments airing . However , a decision had to be made over how to deal with the loss of a major cast member . The writers initially toyed with the idea of having Mr . Hooper move to Florida . However , they decided to just tell the viewers the painful truth and have Mr . Hooper die as well . The following Thanksgiving , in episode 1839 , Mr . Hooper ' s death is explained to Big Bird , and to the child viewers at home . Several cast members were emotionally affected by the episode . In the documentary " Sesame Street Unpaved " , host Sonia Manzano stated that the episode was one of her proudest moments on the show because it did not try to sugarcoat the issue and it was completely honest . In the same documentary , Bob McGrath remarked that for a long time after the episode aired , it was hard for him to enter Hooper ' s Store . Meanwhile , in an interview on " The Tavis Smiley Show " , Loretta Long said that because of the episode , it was now easier for families to teach their children about death . The subsequent book adaptation , " I ' ll Miss You , Mr . Hooper " , was " dedicated to the memory of Will Lee . " As he became known on " Sesame Street , " children would approach Will Lee on the street and ask , " How did you get out of the television set ? " ' or whisper , " I love you . " The actor ' s response to that , in a 1981 interview : " Apart from the joy of knowing that you are helping so many kids , the recognition is heartwarming . "