Mr. Hooper - Death of Mr. Hooper

Death of Mr. Hooper

When Will Lee died of a heart attack on December 7, 1982, it left the producers of Sesame Street, the Children's Television Workshop, with questions about how to acknowledge the death of one of the series' most visible actors. After considering a number of options, CTW decided to have the character of Mr. Hooper die as well, and use the episode to teach its young viewers about death as a natural part of life and that it is OK for everyone—children and adults alike—to grieve when someone they love dies. The cause of Mr. Hooper's death was not announced, euphemisms such as "passed away" were not used, and the issue was dealt with directly.

The "Farewell, Mr. Hooper" episode (ep #1839) aired November 24, 1983 (Thanksgiving Day), so that parents and children could discuss the content while watching, and was quickly selected by the Daytime Emmys as being one of the 10 most influential moments in daytime television history.

The scene where the adults explain to Big Bird about Mr. Hooper's death was done in one take because the actors were too emotionally exhausted to perform another take. Bob McGrath (Bob) recalls from the Sesame Street Unpaved TV special: "I couldn't go near the store for about a year after he was gone."