Loretta Long

Loretta Long (b. October 4, 1938)Emmy TV Legends interview at 1:30 in part 1 is an actress, singer, and educator who has played Susan on Sesame Street since the show's debut in 1969. In the earliest seasons, she also lent her voice to Muppet characters, including Roosevelt Franklin's Mother, Suzetta Something, one of the Anything Muppet backup singers in "Mah Na Mah Na," and the mother in "Five People in My Family," among others. In 2016, Long published her autobiography, My Best Friends Call Me Susan.
Long was born in Paw Paw, Michigan, as Loretta Mae Moore. Long's father was a welder, and her mother worked for Mary Kay Cosmetics. Her ambitious parents enabled her to attend Western Michigan University, where she earned an undergraduate degree in education and took theater classes on the side. After graduation, she moved to New York City, where she continued to take acting classes while teaching English as a substitute in the city and Yonkers.Karkabi, Barbara. "TV Educator Dr. Long has RX for Youths." The Houston Chronicle. December 11, 1994.
Long began her television career in 1967 on the variety series Soul!, which was produced at the New York public television station WNET. The series combined musical variety with frank talk on political and social issues affecting African-Americans, and played host to such performers as Stevie Wonder and Patti LaBelle.
In 1969, Long found Soul! set decorator Charles Rosen preparing a model of a street and learned it was for a planned educational children's show. He encouraged Long to audition. She recalled the experience:
While playing Susan on Sesame Street, Long also commuted to the University of Massachusetts on her days off, pursuing a doctorate in Urban Education. She received the Ph.D. in 1973, with a dissertation specifically examining the educational model used on the TV series, "Sesame Street": A Space Age Approach to Education for Space Age Kids.Hendershot, Heather. Saturday Morning Censors. p. 152 She also recorded her now-classic Susan Sings Songs from Sesame Street album, as well as a rare RCA single under her own name. As the seasons progressed, Long's portrayal of Susan changed, affected by the scripts and complaints from NOW, so she was no longer merely a dispenser of milk and cookies, but playing a working woman as well as a wife.
Outside of Sesame Street, Long has taught courses and served as a guest lecturer on such issues as women in the media and the relationship between children and television:
As a performer, Long has appeared in summer stock versions of Guys and Dolls and Sweet Charity and sung in The Vaudeville '80 tour. In film, she appeared in both Sesame Street movies, Follow That Bird and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, and had uncredited parts in Cotton Comes to Harlem, Husbands, and The Out of Towners. TV appearances, often accompanied by Big Bird, include The Dick Cavett Show, The Flip Wilson Show, You Bet Your Life, and The Today Show.
==Sources==
==External links==
*Keynote Speakers bio
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Sesame Street Cast
Category:Muppet Movies Actors
Category:Muppet Voice Actors