Tony Geiss

Nicholas Anthony "Tony" Geiss (November 16th, 1924 - January 21st, 2011) was a staff writer & song writer for SESAME STREET & related productions, often teamed with Judy Freudberg. Geiss conceptualized the Honkers (based on his own childhood habit of honking his nose)^[1] & Abby Cadabby.^[2]

Geiss’ early TV career was spent in London scripting The David Frost Show, & 1st joined Children’s Television Workshop as a writer on the health series Feelin' Good. He also scripted TV specials & revues for the likes of Dick Cavett & Bill Cosby. In the 1980s, after scripting Follow That BIRD as his cinematic debut, Geiss & Freudberg co-wrote the Don Bluth animated features An American Tail & The Land Before Time. He was also credited as head writer for several SESAME STREET home videos.

Geiss’ father Anthony Geiss was a painter & an animator, while mother Marjorie Thirer was a press agent. Geiss grew up in Greenwich Village, spending 2 years as a radar technician for the USA Navy, before attending Cornell University from 1943 to 1946. He began acting in theatre productions in his freshman year, & met his wife Phyllis Eisen on campus.

SESAME STREET Song CreditsEdit

There's a Big Heap of Trash at the End of the Rainbow

Writing CreditsEdit

- Dinosaurs
- Doctors
- Ears
- Fish
- Jumping
- Penguins
- School
- Skin
- Weather
- Wild Animals

SESAME STREET Book CreditsEdit

InterviewsEdit

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation interviewed Geiss in 2004 for the Archive of American Television. The hour & a half interview was posted on YouTube in 2008.