Emilio Delgado, who captured the hearts of kids and adults alike for greater than 40 years as Luis on “Sesame Road,” has died.
His demise at 81 years previous was confirmed to The Publish by a Sesame Workshop Rep.
“A beloved member of the Sesame household for over 50 years, his heat and humor invited youngsters to share a friendship that has echoed by means of generations,” a press release from the rep learn.
“On the forefront of illustration, Emilio proudly laid declare to the document for the longest-running function for a Mexican-American in a TV collection.
“We’re so grateful he shared his skills with us and with the world.”
The actor, singer and voice artist’s spouse, Carole Delgado, told TMZ that her husband had been battling blood most cancers for the previous few years and died surrounded by his household in NYC. The Publish has reached out to his rep for affirmation.
Delgado — additionally a stage actor who appeared in a number of productions of “Sesame Road” — was reportedly working up till his demise in a theater run of “Quixote Nuevo.”
The Mexican American actor first grew to become a family title taking part in Luis — the singing proprietor of the neighborhood “Repair-It Store” — on the long-running youngsters’s tv present in 1971.
He remained on the series until 2016 however continued making appearances at conventions for the present. Through the years he additionally appeared in quite a few different tv exhibits, together with “Quincy M.E.,” “Falcon Crest,” “Lou Grant,” “Legislation & Order,” “Particular person of Curiosity” and “Home of Playing cards.”
Delgado was born on the California aspect of the US-Mexico border and was raised in Mexico by his grandparents, he told the Houston Chronicle in 2020. He labored in a real-life fix-it-type store, repairing bicycles. When his household moved to Los Angeles, he picked up the trombone and drums and later pursued singing and appearing, touchdown his first main gig on the Mexican American cleaning soap opera “Cancion de la Raza,” all whereas pursuing voiceover work.
When he was employed to play Luis, he embraced the chance as a method to enhance the illustration of Latinos on TV.
“I’d been making an attempt all my skilled life to be someplace I can change that, whether or not I used to be speaking about it or making an attempt to get right into a mission that confirmed Latinos in a superb gentle,” he informed the Chronicle. “That’s why ‘Sesame Road’ was such a superb factor. For the primary time on tv, they confirmed Latinos as actual human beings.
“We weren’t dope addicts. We weren’t maids or prostitutes, which had been the best way we had been being proven in tv in movie,” he added.
“Right here, on ‘Sesame Road,’ there have been totally different individuals who spoke totally different languages and ate attention-grabbing meals, they usually had been all People.”
Generations of followers took to social media to share their appreciation for the bilingual pioneer, calling him a “very talented and kind soul” who “paved the way” for Latino illustration.
