'Sesame Street' composer Stephen J. Lawrence passes away

DaytimeEmmywinning composer for Sesame Street Stephen J Lawrence is no more He was 82 when he breathed his lastLawrence died on December 30 at Clara Maas Medical Center in Belleville New Jersey his wife Cantor Cathy Lawrence confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter The cause of his death is yet to be ascertainedBorn on September 5 1939 Lawrence served as a composer music director arranger and conductor on the longtime childrens television series Sesame Street for over 30 years He composed over 300 songs and scores for the program including Fuzzy and Blue and Orange cowritten with David Axelrod He received three Daytime Emmy awards for outstanding achievement in music direction and composition for his work on the showWith an interest in childrens education Lawrence also collaborated with The Jim Henson Company when composing the score for The Wubbulous World of Dr Seuss He later cofounded the nonprofit Quill Entertainment Company with Granville Burgess in 1998In addition to Sesame Street Lawrence is also recognised as the musical director and comusic producer on the 1972 album Free to Be You and MeOther composer credits include the 1973 Robert DeNirostarrer Bang the Drum Slowly One Summer Love 1976 cult horror film Alice Sweet Alice 1976 liveaction musical Red Riding Hood and the 1991 HBO animated musical The Tale of Peter Rabbit starring Carol BurnettHe also composed the film score for AKA Communion 1976 which received the Music Award from the Paris Festival of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1977Lawrence was the music director and the cowriter of four songs for the film Sooner or Later 1979 including the gold single You Take My Breath AwayLawrence is survived by his wife Cantor Cathy Lawrence brother Robert daughter Hannah Jones Anderson soninlaw Seth Anderson grandson Arthur and stepsons Sam and Nick KlineThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever