I is for inspirational, iconic and I’ll miss you Maria.
The legendary Puerto Rican actress Sonia Manzano, who played Maria on the kids show, Sesame Street, for 44 years, is retiring.
The South Bronx born Manzano had a long career as the owner of a neighborhood fix-it shop on Sesame Street. Her character, Maria, was first introduced in 1969. As the years progressed so did Maria, who went from a teenage girl to an adult who got married, became pregnant and had a child. It was revolutionary to showcase a Latina character (or any ethnicity) to literally grow-up with you on television.
At the age of 19 Manzano became the first leading Hispanic woman on television. “When I was growing up in New York,” says Manzano to Fox News Latino, “I watched a lot of television and I never saw anybody who looked like me or lived in a similar neighborhood… when I was growing up in the mid 50s all you can watch was black and white television, ‘Leave it to Beaver’ and ‘Father Knows Best’.”
Her presence on the most successful kids program ever has inspired people of all backgrounds, especially Latinas, to pursue their dreams in entertainment. Manzano says she takes pride of being able to crack open the door to diversity.
“I wondered what I was going to do in a society that didn’t see me. I have changed [that there’s no representation] a little bit by being a Latin face on television in 69 when Sesame Street was first aired.”
“I think it’s very important that other young Latina girls saw me, and [some of them have] said ‘If I hadn’t seen you on television I wouldn’t have gone into broadcast’.”
Manzano, who has won 15 Emmy awards with the Sesame Street writing team and other numerous honors, says she’s retiring from the show but not from the entertainment industry. At 65-years young she still has a lot left and is pursuing other projects.
