History
Lefty was first seen during the first season in skits pairing him with Ernie. Later, he began appearing with a group of gangster associates in another series of skits.
Lefty's boss (performed by Jerry Nelson) is the only character who refers to him as "Lefty." For years, CTW production materials, the book "Sesame Street Unpaved" and Sesame Street merchandise (including storybooks and record albums) referred to the character as simply as "The Salesman." The 2008 Sesame Street book "Storybook ABCs" was the first to feature Lefty's name in print, in a story casting Grover as the main character in "Jack and the Beanstalk".
The Lefty character is reminiscent of a comedic character played by Sheldon Leonard on the Jack Benny radio and television programs. Leonard's character would accost people with shady and unpredictable propositions, opening with lines like, "Hey, buddy, wanna buy a duck?"
Lefty was gradually removed from the American version of the show after concerns were raised by adult viewers who were concerned that he encouraged children to talk to strangers, although the validity of this claim is questioned. However, he is still a rather popular character on Sesamstrasse, the German version of Sesame Street. On this version of the show, he is known as "Schlemihl," a Yiddish word for a "habitual bungler".
Read more about this topic: Lefty (Sesame Street)
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