Sonia Manzano, who played the role of Maria on the children's program Sesame Street, is retiring from the series. Maria was known for being a neighbor and writer at the same time to the street. The actress made her announcement at the American Library Association Annual Conference in San Francisco.
The news was confirmed when the American Libraries tweeted earlier this week: 'After 45 years on Sesame Street, @SoniaMManzano will no longer appear on the next season.'
Sonia, who is now 65-years-old and is of retirement age, stayed with the show for almost 45 years where she started as a teenager in the year 1971. She gained a lot of awards as she stayed with the show, winning her 15 Daytime Emmys Award because of her hard work as part of Sesame's writing staff.
She also made "The Lowdown on the High Bridge" , a children's book which will be coming out this summer. In addition to that, she also made her autobiography entitled "Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South of Bronx," as reported by In Style.
As reported by Washington Post news, Manzano grew up in the South Bronx. Back on her teenage years, she studied high school at the High School of Performing Arts and she later earned a scholarship to Carnegie Mellon. She started performing in the Broadway show "God Spell" while she is in her junior year of college and within the year, she started casting as Maria on the "Sesame Street".
During her Sesame Street time, while the real life Manzano married her husband, Richard Regan, Maria, in the show is also to married Luis. When Manzano became pregnant, her character did as well. In the early 1990's, Luis and Maria had a daughter, Gabriela "Gabi" Rodriguez, who was played by Desiree Casado.
Given Manzano's extended time with Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar, and friends, it comes as no surprise that many others felt emotional about the news. According to her though, maybe she would return for the 50th anniversary of the show.
