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Sam and Friends Bookminor muppetz
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Believe it or not, I just realised yesterday that I know the original Gordon from the test pilots! And after I realised it was him, I also learned some info on his background!
Anyway, there was this new guy at my work, who's been there for a few weeks. I thought he looked familiar, but couldn't quite pinpoint where I saw him. Finally, I asked him yesterday if he knew if we'd met. He told me no, but said he used to be an actor, but didn't expect me to have seen his work... But then he said he worked on the Sesame Street pilots. He was surprised to learn that the first test pilot was released on DVD (and also surprised to learn I was such a fan of Sesame Street), and he revealed his name to be... Russell Loren.
He said that during the late-1960s he acted in a number of community theater productions and local commercials, and he even acted in a number of TV pilots in the New York area, but with the exception of Sesame Street, none of those shows made it past the pilot stages. Eventually, he moved to Hollywood, and he actually got considered for the role of Lionel Jefferson on All in the Family, until it was decided that he looked too old for the part. He also auditioned for and lost the role of Black Bart in Blazing Saddles.
He says that once Sesame Street, All in the Family, and Blazing Saddles became hits he would write a threatening, sometimes nasty letter (sometimes literally nasty... Not sure if I can explain why) to the studios once a week, until he was ordered by court to stop. I told him that the people at Sesame Workshop don't remember his name, or have it on file... he says they probably do and are just pretending so they don't have to acknowledge him.
Anyway, APRIL FOOLS!
Sigh, and the mystery continues...
Anyway, there was this new guy at my work, who's been there for a few weeks. I thought he looked familiar, but couldn't quite pinpoint where I saw him. Finally, I asked him yesterday if he knew if we'd met. He told me no, but said he used to be an actor, but didn't expect me to have seen his work... But then he said he worked on the Sesame Street pilots. He was surprised to learn that the first test pilot was released on DVD (and also surprised to learn I was such a fan of Sesame Street), and he revealed his name to be... Russell Loren.
He said that during the late-1960s he acted in a number of community theater productions and local commercials, and he even acted in a number of TV pilots in the New York area, but with the exception of Sesame Street, none of those shows made it past the pilot stages. Eventually, he moved to Hollywood, and he actually got considered for the role of Lionel Jefferson on All in the Family, until it was decided that he looked too old for the part. He also auditioned for and lost the role of Black Bart in Blazing Saddles.
He says that once Sesame Street, All in the Family, and Blazing Saddles became hits he would write a threatening, sometimes nasty letter (sometimes literally nasty... Not sure if I can explain why) to the studios once a week, until he was ordered by court to stop. I told him that the people at Sesame Workshop don't remember his name, or have it on file... he says they probably do and are just pretending so they don't have to acknowledge him.
Anyway, APRIL FOOLS!
Sigh, and the mystery continues...