Bob Johnson, the initial human character on the enduring children’s television program Sesame Street, was portrayed by American actor, singer, musician, and author Robert Emmett McGrath.
In Ottawa, Illinois, McGrath was born on June 13th, 1932. His name is a tribute to Irish nationalist Robert Emmet. While his mother played the piano, he used to sing for his family as a child. In the amateur program at the Roxy Theater, where his mother enrolled him, he placed second. In high school, he attended Marquette.
The University of Michigan’s School of Music is where McGrath received his degree in 1954.
He participated in the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club and the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity while a student at Michigan. During fraternity functions, he washed dishes while fraternity brother David Connell waited tables, which Connell would use when casting for Sesame Street began. After receiving his degree, he joined the U.S. Army and spent two years in Germany booking and performing for the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra.
In 1959, McGrath graduated with a Master of Music in voice from the Manhattan School of Music.
In 1958, McGrath wed his wife Ann Logan Sperry. Three grandsons, five granddaughters, and five children were born to them. The couple moved to a ranch in Norwood, New Jersey in 2017, after living in Teaneck, New Jersey, since 1958.
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