Beloved Hungarian born Sesame Street regular, who fled Budapest after the 1956 Soviet Invasion. He emmigrated to Zaire (now The Democratic Republic of Congo), and taught languages to the Luba tribe, including English.
He was hired in 1967 to teach the letters of the alphabet on a PBS pilot "Sesame Street" and continued to commute between Sesame Street to his classroom in Zaire, when scheduling permitted. Houston Rocket Great Dikembe Mutombo was a former English student of his, and they often dine together in
New York.
With the overwhelming fame that came from the success of "Sesame Street",
Monster drew attention to issues near and dear to himself. He demonstrated outside the Soviet Embassy following the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and was a constant presence on
Television round table discussions during the Polish Solidarity movement of the early 80s He is also an outspoken advocate for Diabetes research (having been diagnosed in 1962).
When the wall fell, the Cookie
Monster was finally reunited with his wife Ildiko and his now grown two sons. His daughter died of mad cow disease in 1975, having never seen him again since his flight from Budapest. Hungarian
television blocked access to public television, and denounced Cookie
Monster as a traitor and a thief. Ildiko died in 1992 during a grease fire in her new home in
Paris.
He currently lives in Monaco with his new wife Prairie
Dawn and their three children. He serves as a special ambassador to the UN Human Rights committee, and is also acting as special liaison in the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
