Matt Robinson (actor)

Matthew Thomas Robinson Jr. (January 1, 1937 – August 5, 2002) was an American actor, writer and television producer.

Robinson was the first actor to portray the character of Gordon Robinson on the PBS children's TV program Sesame Street.

Born Matthew Thomas Robinson Jr., in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Matthew Robinson Sr. and Marie (née Henson) Robinson on January 1, 1937.

His father worked as a postal worker and one of the first African American columnists for The Philadelphia Independent newspaper, while his mother worked as an elementary-school teacher.

Robinson attended West Philadelphia High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before going on to Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, and graduating in 1958 with a degree from the College of the Liberal Arts and Sciences.

While at Penn State, Robinson was elected president of the Penn State Omega Psi Phi fraternity, one of the first African-American fraternities founded at a prominently African-American college or university—Howard University in Washington, D.C.

In 1962, Robinson wrote a slave revolt drama titled Rained All Night.

He began his media career in 1963 as a writer, and soon after producer and on-air talent, at television station WCAU-TV in his hometown of Philadelphia.

Robinson produced and hosted Opportunity in Philadelphia, a weekly televised employment service oriented toward African Americans.

By televising job opportunities, Opportunity in Philadelphia sought to allay the apprehension many minorities felt when looking for work.

Robinson established his talent at WCAU, ultimately leading to future successes as a producer and actor.

When Sesame Street began in 1969, not only did Robinson play Gordon, but he also provided the voice of the puppet Roosevelt Franklin and was one of the show's producers.

Robinson's television breakthrough came in 1969 when he joined the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) to assist in the development of a new children's program for National Educational Television titled Sesame Street. His initial role was to produce and oversee filmed segments focusing on the diversity of different characters on the show.

Robinson was eventually chosen to play the fictional character of Gordon in the series, after the performance of the character in test episodes by another actor, Garrett Saunders, did not work out as the producers had hoped.

Gordon was the first character with spoken lines on the show, as a result of difficulty in finding someone to fill the figure.

This was against Robinson's original intentions upon joining the show, as he preferred a behind-the-scenes role, and was initially reluctant to take the part.

He wrote and produced the films Save the Children and Amazing Grace in the early 1970s, and authored scripts for Sanford and Son and Eight Is Enough.

He left the show in 1972.

In later years, when producers needed a last name for the Gordon character, then played by Hal Miller and later Roscoe Orman, they used Matt's last name.

Dolores Robinson commented on his backseat role on the set: "He was by nature shy, and he knew that they were having a difficult time casting Gordon. And the people overseeing the taping up in the booth, peering at the monitors, kept saying, 'Matt knows what to do. He should be Gordon.'” Robinson remained with Sesame Street until 1972.

In total four actors have played Gordon.

In addition to Robinson, Roscoe Orman, Garrett Saunders, and Hal Miller have filled the role.

Robinson wrote one of the first Sesame Street-themed storybooks in 1972, titled Gordon of Sesame Street's Storybook.

It was composed of four of his originally written children stories, "No More Milk", "Fisher-Man", "Fire-Man," and "A Lot of Hot Water".

The cover has a Gordon Robinson caricature reading to different children.

While with CTW, Robinson also played the voice of a reddish-magenta puppet named Roosevelt Franklin.

Robinson worked closely with Jim Henson to accurately design the character, the first black-influenced Muppet.

Other minority-based Muppets created by Henson and Robinson were Baby Ray Francis, Mobley Mose and a Latino Muppet, A.B. Cito.

Roosevelt Franklin promoted ideals such as family, pride, respect, and geography while also showing a passion for rhyming and blues music.

By both creating the character and performing Franklin's voice for three seasons, Robinson helped his puppet become one of the show's main characters.

Each actor's tenure is not exactly clear with some sources citing Roscoe Orman beginning in 1974 and others in 1973.

Later, when Gordon and Susan needed a surname, Robinson's was used in tribute.

In addition, Franklin continued to make appearances until 1975.

The puppet was pulled from the show because a negative perception of the character among African Americans began to grow.

This resulted from Franklin's frequently unruly behavior at the fictional elementary school, which was deemed a bad example for the audience.

Additional arguments for the character's departure were rooted in its overly excessive black image, or lack thereof.

Dolores Robinson has stated that Roosevelt Franklin became a televised vehicle for her then-husband's anger with racism and pride in black people.

In 1983, he joined the staff of the NBC's The Cosby Show as a producer and staff writer.

By that time, he was beginning to show symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but stayed with the show for seven seasons despite the difficulty.

He ultimately died from the disease on August 5, 2002, in Los Angeles at the age of 65.