Bob McGrath

Robert Emmett McGrath (June 13, 1932 – December 4, 2022) was an American actor, singer, and children's author best known for playing original human character and music teacher Bob Johnson on the educational television series Sesame Street from 1969 to 2016.

Early life

McGrath was born on June 13, 1932, in Ottawa, Illinois, the son of Flora Agnes (née Hallagan) and Edmund Thomas McGrath, a farmer. He was named for the Irish patriot Robert Emmet. As a child he sang for his family while his mother played the piano. His mother enrolled him in the Roxy Theater's Amateur Program and he finished in second place. He graduated from Marquette High School.

McGrath graduated from the University of Michigan in 1954; he went to the school of music there. He was a member of the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club and the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. During fraternity events he washed dishes while David Connell, a fraternity brother, waited tables, a connection Connell used when Sesame Street casting began. After graduating, McGrath was inducted into the U.S. Army; he was in Germany for two years performing for the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra and booking for them.

McGrath earned a Master of Music degree in voice from the Manhattan School of Music in 1959.

Career

McGrath worked with Mitch Miller and was the featured tenor on Miller's NBC-TV television singalong series Sing Along with Mitch for four seasons from 1960 to 1964. He was a singer on the Walt Kelly album Songs of the Pogo.