When the “widely watched onscreen wedding” aired, Manzano said, “Latinos on television were the butt of the joke.” But the realistic and respectful portrayal of two Latino characters on a public TV series – before and after their wedding – was meaningful to viewers, she said. Manzano and Delgado (pictured with co-star Bob McGrath, left) were good friends off-screen and played a married couple on 'Sesame Street.' Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch/AP
Manzano and Delgado co-starred on “Sesame Street” for decades – Manzano’s Maria and Delgado’s Luis ran the Fix-It Shop together before their characters married in 1988, in an emotional (and fictional) wedding attended by the human and Muppet residents of Sesame Street (Elmo was their ring bearer). “How wonderful that Emilio’s strength, warmth, and kindness were attractive enough for children to want to emulate.” “My nephew, who is now in his 50s, told me that as a little boy, he wanted to grow up and become a man like Luis,” Manzano said in the Time piece. Sonia Manzano, who for decades played Luis’ co-worker and eventual wife, Maria, remembered her late co-star as a socially conscious man dedicated to improving the portrayal of Latino characters on TV in a brief but heartfelt piece for Time. Who better to memorialize him than the actress who worked alongside him for more than 40 years? Emilio Delgado, best known to generations of “Sesame Street” viewers as the patient and kind Luis, died last week at 81.
