Famous Like Me > Actor > L > Will Lee
Profile of Will Lee
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| Name: |
Will Lee |
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| Date of Birth: |
6th August 1908 |
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| Place of Birth: |
New York, New York, USA |
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| Profession: |
Actor |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Will Lee (born August 6, 1908 in New York City, New York; died December 6, 1982 in New York) was an American actor who was best known for his role as Mr. Hooper in the children's television series "Sesame Street."
Lee portrayed the role of Mr. Hooper, the storekeeper of an eponymously named store, from "Sesame Street's" premiere in 1969 until his death.
Prior to accepting the role of Mr. Hooper, Lee had starred in a number of minor roles in television and on the big screen. He was part of the original cast of the CBS daytime soap opera, "As the World Turns" (where he portrayed Will "Pa" Hughes during the series' early months in 1956).
"Farewell, Mr. Hooper" episode
When Lee died, it left the producers of "Sesame Street," the Children's Television Workshop, with questions on how to acknowledge the death of one of the series' most visible actors. After considering a number of options, CTW decided to kill off the character of Mr. Hooper ... by simply stating that he died.
The "Farewell, Mr. Hooper" episode aired November 24, 1983 (Thanksgiving Day), and quickly was selected by the Daytime Emmys as being one of the 10 most influential moments in daytime television.
In the episode, Big Bird -- one of the starring Muppet characters in the series -- had scrawled a drawing of his beloved Mr. Hooper, but was unable to find him so he could give it to him. When Big Bird asks his adult friends to help him find him, he is reminded that Mr. Hooper has died. Unaware of the concept of death, Big Bird says he'll just wait for him to return, leading the adults to tearfully remind him that when someone dies, they never come back. Big Bird realizes they are telling him the truth and starts to cry. The other adults, also wrought with emotion, comfort Big Bird and explain that death is a natural process in life, and that everyone will someday die. At the end of the episode, Big Bird finally realizes that Mr. Hooper is dead, but that he has many happy memories to remember his friend by.
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