Sonia Manzano, the actress who played Maria on Sesame Street, announced at the American Library Association Annual Conference earlier this week that she is retiring.
Manzano, who first joined the show in 1971 before become a series regular in 1974, will be missed—Twitter is already lamenting her departure. She has been reassuring her followers that the show will be fine, but you can't deny that Sesame Street saw some great times with her on the show. Manzano won no less than 15 Emmy Awards for her work as a scriptwriter, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's series twice.
Even without Sesame Street, Manzano's calendar seems full: she regularly does speaker events about literacy and diversity in the media, and is currently promoting her memoir, Becoming Maria: Love And Chaos In The South Bronx.
We'll miss you, Maria!
