Roosevelt Franklin

Roosevelt Franklin appeared on Sesame Street from Season 1 (1970) to Season 7 (1975). It goes without saying that his name is simply a reversal of that of president Franklin D. Roosevelt. The precocious Roosevelt Franklin attended Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School, where he taught the class as often as not. He taught concepts like family, pride, respect, geography and not drinking poison. Roosevelt was a cool kid who loved to scat, rhyme and sing the blues. He has a brother named Baby Ray Franklin and a sister named Mary Frances Franklin. His mother was proud of him.
In addition to his elementary school, he had his own stadium, Roosevelt Franklin Stadium, where he coached Headball. Roosevelt has a younger sister, who wishes that she could go to school like he does.A Day on Sesame Street, Western Publishing, 1979. Drawings by Irra Duga.
Matt Robinson, who played Gordon during the first three seasons, created the character and performed Roosevelt's voice.Children's Television Workshop Season 2 press release, November 1970: "A versatile artist, Robinson created the character Roosevelt Franklin which Muppeteer Jim Henson has translated into an engaging black puppet figure. Robinson has written several songs for Roosevelt and voices the character as well." Frank Oz was Roosevelt's original puppeteer.Ryan Dillon on Instagram (April 23, 2019)
For a while, Roosevelt was considered one of the main characters on Sesame Street. He even had his own record album, The Year of Roosevelt Franklin. Despite significant popularity, he was dropped from the cast following letters complaining of a negative African-American stereotype, and because his rowdy elementary school did not set a good example for children.Borgenicht, David. Sesame Street Unpaved page 135 However, Roosevelt continued to make appearances in reused segments through the 1980s and in storybooks as late as 1996. Roosevelt can also be seen in a Camp Wannagohoma segment, performed by Jerry Nelson, and in the large crowd of Muppets at the end of The Muppet Movie, along with his mother.
In 2009, a behind-the-scenes photograph of guest star Paul Rudd playing with the puppet was featured in Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street.
Roosevelt Franklin made a cameo in Episode 4509 in 2014. He also made cameo appearances in the background of a Smart Cookies episode, "Making Whoopie Pie in the Library," alongside Betty Lou. In 2018, Roosevelt popped up during Caroll Spinney's retirement party, performed by Ryan Dillon.
In 2019, Roosevelt began making his first new speaking appearances in decades in productions related to the show's 50th anniversary, voiced by Chris Knowings and puppeteered by Ryan Dillon. He first returned in a 2019 episode of Meet the Peetes, in which Holly Robinson Peete and her brother Matt (daughter and son of Matt Robinson) visited the set. He additionally made brief, speaking cameos in a September 2019 "Sesame Street Memory" video with Paul Scheer, and in Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration.Ryan Dillon on Instagram (November 2, 2019) He appears as an audience member for The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo.
==Criticism==
Roosevelt Franklin was the source of criticism by some African-American intellectuals who scrutinized the character for signs that he was too black, or not black enough.
For example, in a 1973 issue of literary digest Black World, the article "Sesame Street: A Linguistic Detour for Black-Language Speakers" took Sesame to task for the way that black characters on the show spoke: 
The article took issue with the language used in a sketch in which Roosevelt's mother asks Roosevelt to spell his name:
==Sketches==
:See Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School and Headball
==Songs==
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*Roosevelt Franklin Counts
*Roosevelt Franklin's Alphabet
*Roosevelt Franklin Spells His Name
*Days of the Week
==Book appearances==
* The Sesame Street Storybook, inside cover only (1971)
* Sesame Street Finger Puppets (1971)
* The Together Book (1971)
* Bert's Hall of Great Inventions (1972)
* Sherlock Hemlock and the Great Twiddlebug Mystery (1972)
* The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook (1973)
* Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum (1974)
* The Sesame Street ABC Storybook (1974)
* Big Bird's Busy Book (1975)
* See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Smell No Evil (1975)
* Bert's Big Band Paint-with-Water Book (1976)
* The Count's Coloring Book (1976)
* Paper Doll Players (1976)
* The Sesame Street Mother Goose (1976)
* The Sesame Street Postcard Book (1976)
* Una Sorpresa (1976)
* Big Bird's Red Book (1977)
* The Great Cookie Thief (1977)
* Muppets in My Neighborhood (1977)
* The Sesame Street Block Party (1977)
* The Sesame Street Mystery Coloring Book (1977)
* The Exciting Adventures of Super Grover (1978)
* Grover's Super Surprise Book (1978)
* The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook (1978)
* The Sesame Street Cookbook (1978)
* Cookie Monster's Storybook (1979)
* A Day on Sesame Street (1979)
* Ernie's Work of Art (1979)
* Sesame Stories (1979)
* My Favorite Things (1979)
* Down on the Farm with Grover (1980)
* I Can Do It Myself (1980)
* The Sesame Street Dictionary (1980)
* The Sesame Street Pet Show (1980)
* The Count Counts a Party (1981)
* Oscar's Rotten Birthday (1981)
* A Day at School (1982)
* First Day of School (1982)
* Grover Goes to School (1982)
* Sesame Street Finding Out Encyclopedia 3: The C Book (1982)
* Everyone Makes Mistakes (1983)
* The Songs of Sesame Street in Poems and Pictures (1983)
* My Sesame Street Yearbook 1984 (1983)
* Sign Language ABC (1985)
* Big Bird Goes to the Doctor (1986)
* Happy Mother's Day! (1989)
* Elmo's Lift-and-Peek Around the Corner Book (1996)
==See also==
*Roosevelt Franklin (rap group)
==Sources==
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Category:Sesame Street Muppet Characters
Category:Sesame Street Characters
Category:Muppet Characters