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HollyRobinsonPeete

Holly Robinson Peete with Abby Cadabby and Julia at a "Sesame Street and Autism" panel discussion on Capitol Hill on April 4, 2017.

Peetes-Roosevelt

Peete with Roosevelt Franklin during a taping for Meet the Peetes in 2018.

Hollyrpeete instagram 2021-10-01

Holly and her brother Matt Jr in their youth.

Holly and Matt Robinson Jr ep0047

Holly and Matt in Episode 0047.

Holly Robinson Peete (b. 1964) is an actress and the daughter of Sesame Street actor/producer Matt Robinson, the original Gordon. At the age of four, she appeared on the series, on at least one occasion, as one of the kids.[1]

One appearance in Episode 0047 included several segments in which she and her brother Matt Jr featured with the cast including feeding a goat with Bob, watching Jennie draw with shapes, playing "One of These Things" on the stoop with Bob, and observing a bird in the Pet Shop with their father playing Gordon and recurring kid Sally.

Best known for her roles on such TV shows as 21 Jump Street, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and the UPN sitcom Love Inc., the actress has reminisced in various print and online publications about her father and his Sesame Street work.

In 2018, she began starring in the reality series Meet the Peetes, which featured a Sesame Street set visit during an April 2019 episode. The episode documented Peete recording a "Sesame Street Memory" video, which was released online in October 2019.

In the biographical portion of her own website, Peete recalls, "...when I was four and my brother, Matt, was seven, my dad got his big break as the star of a new children's program called (who could've predicted this show would still be on!) Sesame Street. I was so psyched to get to hang out with Big Bird, Oscar and Cookie Monster."[2]

Peete recalls being less excited the first time she saw her father on screen though. In his 2008 book Street Gang, Michael Davis recounts Peete's feelings of anxiety seeing her dad escort another little girl (Sally in Episode 0001) around the neighborhood, and kissing another woman (Susan) who wasn't her mom.[3]

She told Ebony magazine in December 2002 that, "we all liked to brag on our parents when we were kids; I did my share as a 4-year-old when my daddy was on Sesame Street."[4]

In an interview with iParenting.com, Holly Robinson Peete offered further details about the Sesame days:

"There was my dad on TV with his pork chop sideburns." Though Matt Robinson was initially opposed to his children being in front of the cameras, young Holly Robinson begged her father to let her appear on the series. "I had one line, and that was ‘Hi Gordon,’ but I couldn’t get it right. All I could manage was ‘Hi, Dad!’ and that was the end of that."

Matt Robinson offered his own comments on his children's reactions in the 1971 book All About Sesame Street:

Matt and Holly both watch the show, but Holly’s more loyal.... They were interested about how the show was done, so I took them both up to see it. Each did a scene with me, but there was no mention of our relationship. No mention by me. Holly’s a little jealous of one little girl who appears regularly, so she walked up to her and said, ‘You know, that’s my daddy.’ Fortunately Loretta wasn’t there; Holly was going to set her straight, too!

In 2023, she appeared on The Masked Singer as The Fairy. While her identity was revealed the following week, her first appearance on the show was on Sesame Street Night, where she sang "You're No Good" to Oscar the Grouch.

Sources[]

  1. hollyrobinsonpeete.com (archived) "Ask Holly"
  2. hollyrobinsonpeete.com (archived) "My Story"
  3. Street Gang by Michael Davis, page 192
  4. Ebony, December 2002 issue

External links[]

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