Roscoe Orman

Roscoe Orman
Orman at the 2007 Texas Book Festival
Born	Roscoe Hunter Orman (1944-06-11) 11 June 1944 (age 80) The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Other names	Roscoe H. Orman Roscoe H Orman
Education	High School of Art and Design
Occupations	Actor writer artist child advocate
Years active	1962–present
Notable work	Sesame Street
Spouse	Kimberley LaMarque Orman ​ ​ (m. 2012)​
Partner	Sharon Orman (1970–2010)
Children	4

Roscoe Hunter Orman (born June 11, 1944) is an American actor, writer, artist and child advocate, best known for playing Gordon Robinson, one of the central human characters on Sesame Street.^[1]

Early life and career

While a student at New York City's High School of Art and Design, Orman made his theatrical debut in the 1962 topical revue "If We Grow Up." He was an early member of the Free Southern Theater in New Orleans for two years in the mid-1960s and a founding member of Robert Macbeth's New Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, NY, where he both acted in and directed several plays by NLT's playwright-in-residence, Ed Bullins. His many other stage appearances have included roles in "Julius Caesar" and "Coriolanus" at Joseph Papp's Public Theater, the Broadway production of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Fences", Manhattan Theatre Club's stagings of Richard Wesley's "The Sirens", "The Last Street Play", and "The Talented Tenth", and Matt Robinson's one-man play The Confessions of Stepin Fetchit at the American Place Theatre. Orman is the recipient of two Audelco Theatre Awards and a five-time nominee.

He made his feature film debut in the title role of Universal Studios' 1973 drama Willie Dynamite and has since appeared in F/X, Striking Distance, New Jersey Drive, Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, Twilight's Last Gleaming, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, Holiday Rush, and You Can't Take My Daughter. His television credits include work on All My Children, Kojak, Sanford and Son, Cosby, Sex and the City, The Wire, Law & Order, and Law & Order: SVU. He appeared in the Garry Trudeau/Amazon streaming production Alpha House and the HBO mini-series The Night Of.

Orman joined the Sesame Street cast in 1974, becoming the third actor to play Gordon (after Matt Robinson, 1969–72, and Hal Miller, 1972–74).

In June 2006, Orman's memoir, Sesame Street Dad: Evolution of An Actor, was released. In September 2007, his children's book Ricky and Mobo was released.

On October 8, 2008, he became the Chief Storyteller of AudibleKids.com (a service of Audible.com), a website for parents, teachers, and children to connect with one another and download and listen to audiobooks on iPods, MP3 players, and computers. In this role, Orman narrates audiobooks and communicates with children, parents and teachers online and at events.^{[citation needed]} His new role was announced at a community event at The Educational Alliance Boys & Girls Club in New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office commended Orman's life work and willingness to embrace new technology to help encourage children to read books, by naming October 8, 2008, AudibleKids Day in New York City.^{[citation needed]}

In 2016, his contract with Sesame Street was not renewed, as part of Sesame Workshop's retooling of the series, but the organization said that Orman would continue to represent it at public events.^[2][3] He returned to play Gordon in Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration along with a couple of YouTube videos released in 2018, a 2019 CNN town hall, Coming Together: Standing Up To Racism alongside former Sesame Street cast member Sonia Manzano, and a TV special released the same year, "The Power of We", also about racism. Roscoe Orman also returned as Gordon in a Season 54 episode, thus becoming the first original human cast member to rejoin Sesame Street since Season 46.

Personal life

Orman has five children with his former partner Sharon Orman,^[4] and is the grandfather of eight. His son Miles Orman played Gordon and Susan's adopted son Miles Robinson on Sesame Street from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.^[5] He and his wife, Kimberley LaMarque Orman, reside in New Jersey.^[4]

Filmography

Filmography
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	Willie Dynamite	Willie
1974–2016; 2023	Sesame Street	Gordon Robinson	254 episodes
1975	Sanford and Son	Al Robinson	Episode: "Bank on This"
1976	All My Children	Tyrone
1977	Kojak	Lieutenant Connors	Episode: "The Condemned"
	Insight	Body Guard	Episode: "Leroy"
1978	Christmas Eve on Sesame Street	Gordon Robinson	Television film
1979	Julius Caesar	Marcus Brutus	Direct-to-video
	Coriolanus	Adrian
1983	Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art	Gordon Robinson	Television film
1985	Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird
1986	F/X	Captain Wallenger
1989	A Man Called Hawk	Malcolm	Episode: "Hear No Evil"
	Hard Time on Planet Earth	Captain Ralston	Episode: "Stranger in a Strange Land"
1991	Big Bird's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake	Gordon Robinson	Television film
1993	Striking Distance	Sid, Eddie Eiler's Partner
	Sesame Street Stays Up Late!	Gordon Robinson	Television film
1995	New Jersey Drive	Judge
1996	Elmo Saves Christmas	Gordon Robinson	Direct-to-video
1997	Drive by: A Love Story	Pops	Short film
1998	Elmopalooza!	Gordon Robinson	Television film
1999	The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland	Gordon Robinson
	Cosby	Mr. Mason	Episode: "Book 'Em, Griff O"
2000	Lifeline	Narrator (voice)	Episode: "D.C. Children's Hospital"
2001–2004	Law & Order	Mr. Cameron, Trial Judge Alan Kiley	2 episodes
2002	Sex and the City	Train Waiter	Episode: "The Big Journey"
2006	30 Days	Jo Jo
2007	Coney Island	Boss	Short film
2008	The Wire	Officer Oscar Requer	2 episodes
	Compliments of the Serpent	Mike Stanton	Short
2008–2013	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Jerome Howard, Bryant Davis	2 episodes
2011	Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life	Dr. Grady
2012–2013	Little Children, Big Challenges	Gordon Robinson	2 episodes
2013	Alpha House	Randall	Episode: "Hippo Issues"
2016	The Night Of	Jury Foreman	Episode: "The Call of the Wild"
2018	Blue Bloods	Ethan Goodwin	Episode: "Second Chances"
	All These Small Moments	Dr. Rogers
	New Amsterdam	Rodger Conway	Episode: "Three Dots"
2019	Holiday Rush	Reginald Miller
2020	You Can't Take My Daughter	McDevitt	Television film

Stage credits

Year	Title	Role(s)	Venue(s)	Notes	Ref.
2017	Bud, Not Buddy	Jimmy, etc.	Kennedy Center		[6]
2014	Fetch Clay, Make Man	Stepin Fetchit	Round House Theatre		[7]
2014	The Fabulous Miss Marie	Bill	New Federal Theatre		[8]
2012	Jitney	Jim	Theatre Morgan		[9]
2010	The Last Fall	Neville	Crossroads Theatre		[10]
2010	Driving Miss Daisy	Hoke	Fulton Theatre (PA)		[11]

References

1. Chattman, Jon; Tarantino, Rich; Underhill, Brett; John Oates (2009-04-18). Sweet 'Stache: 50 Badass Mustaches and the Faces Who Sport Them. Adams Media. pp. 117–. ISBN 9781440501449. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
2. Jones, Kevin L. (28 July 2016). "'Sesame Street' Lets Go Longtime Cast Members Bob, Gordon and Luis". KQED Public Media for Northern California. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
3. Lujan, Adam. "Sesame Street let go three longtime cast members". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
4. "EXCLUSIVE: 'Sesame Street' star Roscoe Orman leaves ex 'destitute'". 28 March 2013.
5. "Remember Gordon from 'Sesame Street?' He is 75 now and Has Adult Son and Little Grandkids". 26 August 2019.
6. "Justin Weaks, Frankie Faison, Charlayne Woodard, Roscoe Orman and More Sign on for BUD, NOT BUDDY at Kennedy Center; Full Cast Set!". Broadway World. 6 Jan 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
7. Marks, Peter (19 October 2014). "'Fetch Clay, Make Man': An unusual sparring match". Washington Post. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
8. Soloski, Alexis (7 May 2014). "Infidelity Runs Amok, but the Party Never Stops". New York Times. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
9. Smith, Tim (9 February 2012). "'Sesame Street' veteran heads 'Jitney' cast at MSU". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
10. Filichia, Peter (16 April 2010). "Roscoe Orman and Lizan Mitchell appear in 'The Last Fall' at the Crossroads Theatre Company". New Jersey Star-Ledger. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
11. Holahan, Jane (28 January 2010). "In 'Driving Miss Daisy,' two people take a journey into transformation". LNP. Retrieved 28 June 2023.

External links

• Interview from Wisconsin Public Television with Roscoe Orman — the actor talks about his career and experiences playing Gordon Robinson on Sesame Street.
• Roscoe Orman at IMDb
• Roscoe Orman at the Internet Broadway Database
• Roscoe Orman at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Roscoe Orman at the TCM Movie Database
• Roscoe Orman Interview in the Archive of American Television
• Interview 'Sesame Street' star is an accidental role model - Associated Press