‘Sesame Street’ producer, TV writer
Robert Cunniff, 81, a television writer and producer who shared an Emmy Award in the early 1970s as a producer of “Sesame Street,†died Jan. 20 at a nursing facility in Brooklyn, N.Y., after a long illness.
Cunniff, a producer for “Sesame Street†from 1972 to 1975, shared an Emmy Award with executive producer Jon Stone for outstanding achievement in children’s programming, in 1973.
Cunniff also was a writer for the “Today†show from 1963 to 1969 and was a member of the writing staff for “The Dick Cavett Show†from 1969 to ’72.
In 1976, he began a nearly one-year stint as producer/managing editor of “Good Morning, America.â€
He later conceived, co-wrote and executive-produced “Mouseterpiece Theater,†a popular Disney Channel series launched in 1983 featuring vintage Disney cartoons and George Plimpton as its host.
Born in Chicago on Sept. 13, 1926, Cunniff earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois.
After serving in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II, he earned a master’s degree in literature at the University of Chicago.
Cunniff went on to write for the Chicago Sun-Times and TV Guide, and he and fellow Chicagoan Tom O’Malley wrote a syndicated newspaper column about television, “Cunniff and O’Malley,†from 1954 to 1957.
The complete guide to home viewing
Get Screen Gab for everything about the TV shows and streaming movies everyone’s talking about.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
