BELLEVILLE (CelebrityAccess) – Sesame Street composer Stephen J. Lawrence died on Thursday at Clara Maas Medical Center. He was 82. His wife, Cantor Cathy Lawrence confirmed the report to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. A cause of death has not been announced.
Lawrence served as arranger, conducter, music director and composer on the beloved children’s TV show, Sesame Street for over 30 years. Lawrence also collaborated with The Jim Henson Company, composing the score for The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. He’s composed hundreds of songs over the course of his career, including “Fuzzy and Blue (and Orange)”, which he co-wrote with David Axelrod. He received three Daytime Emmy awards in music direction and composition for his work on Sesame Street.
Other composer credits include HBO’s, The Tale of Peter Rabbit with Carol Burnett, the score for movie AKA Communion and cult horror flick, Alice, Sweet Alice. He also served as the Music Director of Temple Sinai for 10 years, ending his tenure in 2012.
Lawrence is survived by his wife, Cantor Cathy Lawrence, brother Robert, daughter Hannah Jones Anderson, son-in-law Seth Anderson, two step-sons (Sam and Nick) and grandson, Arthur.
