Original Gordon from the Sesame Street test pilot has been identified

[minor muppetz]

Seems it didn't say if he was still alive or not. Somehow I'm assuming he is, but it's still hard for me to tell from the article (yeah, it says they wouldn't talk about his personal life, which is fine by me, but it'd still be good to know if he was still living).

It's interesting, his name is Garrett Saudners. Some fans at Muppet Wiki thought the actor might have been Roscoe Lee Brown, who was a cast member on Soap playing a character named Saudners.

 

[CherryPizza]

The way that the article is worded, saying that the details are not being shared out of respect for his family's (not his) privacy, would imply that he is dead or in a bad way.

 

[Drtooth]

In Street Gang, Jon Stone is quoted as saying that Saunders was cast at the last minute, and that nobody was happy with the casting, so most probably. He's not the only thing about the test pilot that's rough around the edges (Susan was almost at Vanna White-level in being 'set dressing'), and even though Matt Robinson's Gordon was more streetwise than Roscoe Orman's (I haven't seen enough of Hal Miller to comment), it is fairly clear that Saunders' character didn't have much 'Gordon' about him.

Ah, yes. I felt he was quite awkward, especially compared to Matt. I'm guessing he didn't really socialize with the rest of the cast when they were filming those, so I'm guessing that's why they forgot so easily. The only produced a few of these test shows... I wonder how many of them even had original footage, or if they reused a lot of the framing devices. That could be another reason. less studio time, less time to get to know the cast.

The way that the article is worded, saying that the details are not being shared out of respect for his family's (not his) privacy, would imply that he is dead or in a bad way.

I'd wonder if that meant that they didn't want to track down and interview the family as well about it as well.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Garrett "Lost Gordon" Saunders meets Bill Cosby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SlFL_0nFKs

 

[terrimonster]

He has passed on.
http://www.locategrave.org/l/4189821/Saunders

 

[Eaglekiller]

When people say, "oh how could they forget who he was?" Let me tell you, I have been at my job for five years and I can't remember most of the people I worked with when I started that have left.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Apologies for bumping an old thread, but I had to share this. Here's Garrett Saunders singing, and you know what? He's got a really, really nice voice!