Matt Robinson (actor)

Matthew Thomas Robinson Jr. (January 1, 1937 – August 5, 2002) was an American actor, writer and television producer. Robinson was the first actor to portray the character of Gordon Robinson on the PBS children's TV program Sesame Street. When Sesame Street began in 1969, not only did Robinson play Gordon, but he also provided the voice of the puppet Roosevelt Franklin and was one of the show's producers. He left the show in 1972. In later years, when producers needed a last name for the Gordon character, then played by Hal Miller and later Roscoe Orman, they used Matt's last name. He wrote and produced the films Save the Children and Amazing Grace in the early 1970s, and authored scripts for Sanford and Son and Eight Is Enough. In 1983, he joined the staff of The Cosby Show as a producer and staff writer. By that time, he was beginning to show symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but stayed with the show for seven seasons despite the difficulty. He ultimately died from the disease on August 5, 2002, in Los Angeles at the age of 65.