List of celebrity guest stars on Sesame Street - Definition

This is a list of celebrity guest stars on the children's television series Sesame Street. An asterisk (*) indicates those celebrities who are known to have recited or sung the alphabet.

Actors

• Paul Benedict (The Number Painter from 1969-74)
• Yul Brynner
• Carol Burnett, in an extremely brief appearance in the first episode
• Jim Carrey, in a skit about "Happy Feet", written for Steve Martin.
• Imogene Coca, in the special A Special Sesame Street Christmas; her primary function in the special was to be called an idiot by Ethel Merman
• Bill Cosby*
• Ellen DeGeneres*
• Robert De Niro
• Danny DeVito
• Fran Drescher
• Henry Fonda, in the special A Special Sesame Street Christmas
• Jodie Foster
• James Gandolfini
• Mel Gibson, playing Hamlet to Elmo's Claudius
• Seth Green, season 35
• Whoopi Goldberg
• John Goodman
• David Alan Grier
• James Earl Jones*
• Burt Lancaster*
• Shari Lewis and Lambchop*
• Ethel Merman, in the special A Special Sesame Street Christmas; her primary function in the special was to call Imogene Coca an idiot
• Julianne Moore, season 35
• Joe Namath
• Liam Neeson
• Rosie O'Donnell
• Mandy Patinkin
• Natalie Portman, dressed as an elephant
• Julia Roberts
• Fred Rogers
• Lea Salonga
• Susan Sarandon*
• Dick Smothers, one half of The Smothers Brothers, in the special A Special Sesame Street Christmas
• Patrick Stewart*
• Ben Stiller
• Marisa Tomei
• Leslie Uggams, in the special A Special Sesame Street Christmas, Uggams thinks lemonade is hot cocoa
• Robin Williams
• Noah Wyle

Celebrities

• Maya Angelou
• Phil Donahue
• Harvey Fierstein, season 35
• Jesse Jackson, who recited "I Am - Somebody"
• Al Roker
• Vonda Shephard, singing "Everybody's Song"
• Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert
• Barbara Walters

Political figures

• UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
• First Lady Laura Bush, in episode 4032, reading an original book called Wubba Wubba Wubba to Elmo, Big Bird, and some children.
• First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
• Ralph Nader, who sang People in Your Neighborhood with Bob

Musicians

• James Galway
• Dizzy Gillespie
• Herbie Hancock
• Kronos Quartet
• Yo-Yo Ma
• Branford Marsalis
• Wynton Marsalis
• Seiji Ozawa
• Itzhak Perlman
• Joshua Redman, possibly in the 12th season, playing his violin in the episode where Telly debuts, and plays his tuba.
• Max Roach
• Isaac Stern

Singers

• Backstreet Boys
• Tony Bennett
• Harry Belafonte*
• Rubén Blades
• Garth Brooks
• Cab Calloway
• Mary Chapin Carpenter*
• Aaron and Nick Carter, two-headed monster skit, aired with Baby Bear's little sibling's birth, second episode.
• Johnny Cash
• Tracy Chapman
• Ray Charles*
• Chubby Checker
• Destiny's Child, singing "New Way to Walk"
• The Dixie Chicks
• Judy Collins
• Bo Diddley
• Plácido Domingo
• Gloria Estefan
• Melissa Etheridge
• José Feliciano
• 14 Karat Soul
• The Four Tops
• Crystal Gayle
• Lena Horne
• Mahalia Jackson
• Michael Jackson, in the special A Special Sesame Street Christmas
• Waylon Jennings
• Billy Joel*
• Norah Jones, season 35
• Wynonna Judd
• Eddie Kendricks (of The Temptations)
• Kid 'N Play
• B.B. King
• Gladys Knight and the Pips
• Patti LaBelle
• Queen Latifah
• Ladysmith Black Mambazo
• Little Richard, singing "Rubber Duckie"
• Ziggy Marley
• Martina McBride, season 35
• Don McLean
• Bobby McFerrin
• Menudo
• Anne Murray, in the special A Special Sesame Street Christmas; Murray's segment featured a magic egg nog container
• Holly Near
• Aaron Neville, singing "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon"
• *NSYNC
• The Pointer Sisters
• Lou Rawls
• Helen Reddy
• R.E.M., singing "Furry Happy Monsters"
• Little Richard
• Smokey Robinson
• Linda Ronstadt
• Diana Ross
• Buffy Sainte-Marie, who became a regular cast member
• Jill Scott, singing "We Are All Earthlings" [1] (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid=15239)
• Pete Seeger
• Carly Simon
• Paul Simon
• Ruben Studdard, from American Idol
• Take 6
• James Taylor
• Randy Travis
• Stevie Wonder
• Joe Williams

Who didn't sing on the show

• Percy Sledge, in his 1970s segment, he greets the viewer, says that "we're going to count" from one to ten, and then does so multiple times.

Sports figures

• Arthur Ashe
• Michael Chang
• Julius Erving
• Peggy Fleming
• The Harlem Globetrotters
• Rosie Grier
• Bo Jackson
• Joe Namath
• Martina Navratilova
• New York Giants
• New York Knicks
• New York Mets
• David Robinson
• Isiah Thomas
• Venus Williams
• Dave Winfield

Pre-celebrities

The following persons were not celebrities at the time they appeared on Sesame Street, but later became well-known:

• Actor Alan Arkin
• Actor Paul Benedict (as The Number Painter)
• Dancer Savion Glover
• Actor Raúl Juliá as Rafael, 1971-1972 season
• Actor Charlotte Rae
• Actor-singer Holly Robinson-Peete, in the first episode, as 6-year-old "Sally"
• Guitarist Nile Rodgers played in the Sesame Street band in the 1970s
• Singer Luther Vandross, first season 1969

Celebrities who only lent their voices to the show

• Howard Morris, the voice of Jughead Jones
• Grace Slick, on Jefferson Airplane, for the Spies and Racecars pinball counting segment for the #2

Celebrities as characters

• Kenny Baker as R2-D2
• Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
• Arte Johnson (portraying his Nazi character from Laugh-In)

Fictional characters

• Jughead Jones
• The Pink Panther
• The Simpsons, including Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.

Characters based on celebrities

• Dr. Feel, based on Dr. Phil
• Placido Flamingo, based on Placido Domingo
• Bruce Springbean, based on Bruce Springsteen
• Johnny Trash, based on Johnny Cash
• Babwa Wawa, based on Barbara Walters
• Polly Darton, based on Dolly Parton
• Pat Playjacks, based on Pat Sajak