Emilio Delgado, Sesame Street's Luis and LGBTQ+ Ally, Has Died
advocate.comSesame Street for 44 years and was a strong LGBTQ+ ally, has died at age 81.Delgado died Thursday at his Manhattan home, The New York Times reports.
The cause was multiple myeloma, his wife, Carole Delgado, told the paper.He was a beloved regular on the PBS children’s program, having joined the cast in 1971; Luis became the longest-running role for a Mexican-American on any TV show.
His character owned the Fix-It Shop, where he repaired a wide variety of objects. The show portrayed a romance between Luis and his colleague at the shop, Maria (Sonia Manzano), and they married on-screen in 1988, in an episode that was a huge hit with viewers.Delgado was devoted to offering positive, nonstereotypical portrayals of Latinos, and he worked for social and racial justice in other ways.
