Tony Geiss

 Nicholas   Anthony   " Tony "   Gei ss  ( N o v e m b e r   1 6  t h,  1 9 2 4  -  January   2 1  s t ,  2 0 11  ) was a staff  w rite r  &  son g  write r  f o r  SESAME STREET  & re late d production s , often teamed with  Judy Freudberg. Geiss conceptualize d the Honker s  ( based on his own child hood habit o f honk i n g his nose )   &  Abby Cadabby .

Geiss ’ early T V career was spent in London  script i n g  T h e   David   Frost   Show , & 1| 1  s t joined  C h i l d r e n ’ s Television Work s hop  as a  write r  on  t h e health series  Feel i n ' Good . He also scripted T V special s & revue s for the like s o f Dick Cavett  &  Bill Cosby. In the 1 9 8 0 s , after script i n g  Follow That  BIRD  a s his cinematic debut , Geiss &  Freudberg  co - wrote the Don Bluth a n i mate d feature s  A n   Ame ri can   Tail  &  The Land Before Time . He was also credit e d as head w rite r  f o r several  SESAME STREET   home video s.

Geiss ’ father  Anthony Geiss was a paint er & an animator, while mother Marjorie Thirer was a press agent. Geiss grew up in Green wich Village, spending 2| 2 y ear s as a radar technician for the  U S A  Navy , before attend i n g Cornell University from  1 9 4 3  to  1 9 4 6. He began acting in theatre productions in his freshman year, & met his wife  Phyllis Eisen on campus.

Writing Credit s

 *  SESAME STREET  ( 1 9 69  -  2 0 11  )
 *  DON ’ T  Eat t h e P i c t u r e s  ( 1 9 8 3  )
 *  SESAME   STREET  Present s : Follow T hat  BIRD  ( 1 9 8 5  )
 *  SESAME   STREET  : 2 0 & Still  Count  in g  ( 1 9 8 9  )
 *  Dance A long ! 
 *  Sin g - Along E a r t h Son g s  ( 1 99 3  )
 *  Elmo  Save s Chris t mas  ( 1 99 6  )
 *  The  BEST  of  KERMIT  o n  SESAME   STREET  ( 1 99 8  )
 *  Cinder  Elmo  ( 1 999  )
 *  Elmo  ’ s World  s eg ment s  :


 *  Dino s a u r s 
 *  Doctor s 
 *  E a r s 
 *  F i s h 
 *  Jump in g 
 *  Penguin s 
 *  School 
 *  S k in 
 *  Weather 
 *  Wild Animal s 

SESAME STREET Book  Credit s

 *  The   Count   Counts  a Party  ( 1 9 8 0  )
 *  Elmo  S a ve s Chris t mas  ( 1 99 6  )
 *  T h e 4 Sea son s  ( 1 9 7 9  )
 *  Honk I f You Like Honker s  ( 1 9 8 6  )
 *  The  SESAME   STREET  Bed time Story book  ( 1 9 7 8  )
 *  The Songs of  SESAME   STREET  i n Poem s &amp; Picture s  ( 1 9 8 3  )
 *  S u s a n &amp; Gord on Adopt a Baby  ( 1 9 8 0  )
 *  Vegetable Soup  ( 1 9 8 0  )
 *  The  SESAME   STREET  Treasury Vol u me 4  ( 1 9 8 3  )

Interview s
T he Academy o f Television Art s & Science s Foundation interview e d Geiss in 2 00 4  for  the Archive o f Ame ri can Television. The hour & a half inter view w as post e d o n You Tube  i n  2 00 8.

External l i n k s

 * Joseph Berger, " Tony Geiss , 8 6 , W rite r f o r  SESAME   STREET  D i e s " ,  The   New York   Time s  , January 3 0 t h , 2 0 11.