You may not recognize Robert Oksner’s name, but you are likely extremely familiar with his work. Oksner was among the earliest of Sesame Street writers, and we are saddened to learn that he has recently passed away.
Joining the Sesame team in 1970 for the show’s second season, Oksner was among the writers plucked from the field of advertising. This was back when the prime methodology for the show was to “sell” concepts like letters and numbers to kids ala TV commercials. During his tenure, he helped create characters like Simon Soundman (seen above) and Sam the Robot. He stayed on the show for eight seasons, and then returned to the ad world.
You may also spot Oksner’s name on some classic Sesame Street storybooks and albums, often in the form of “Additional Material by…” As you can imagine, he likely had his hands in a lot of Sesame content in those early years.
Later in life, Oksner was among the many former Madison Avenue writers to be interviewed for a little show called Mad Men.
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by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
