Bruce Hart was an American songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and screenwriter perhaps best known for composing the lyrics

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

 to the theme song to Sesame Street

Sesame Street

Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

.

Biography

Hart was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, grew up in Watertown, NY, and completed an arts degree at Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

. After graduation, he wrote material for Carl Ballantine

Carl Ballantine

Carl Ballantine was an American magician, comedian and actor. Billing himself as "The Great Ballantine", "The Amazing Ballantine" or "Ballantine: The World's Greatest Magician", his vaudeville-style comedy routine involved transparent or incompetent stage magic tricks, which tended to flop and go...

, Larry Hankin

Larry Hankin

Larry Hankin is an American actor, performer, director and producer.Hankin studied acting at Syracuse University. He is known for his roles in TV shows Friends and Seinfeld; as well as for his major role in the movie Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood...

 and the Charles Playhouse

Charles Playhouse

The Charles Playhouse is an Off-Broadway theater located at 74 Warrenton St. in Boston, Massachusetts near Beacon Hill.Blue Man Group and Shear Madness currently play there....

 in Boston.

Hart starting writing sketches for Sesame Street with his wife Carole after the program made its debut in 1969. He won an Emmy in 1970 for the pilot of Sesame Street titled "Sally sees Sesame Street". He cowrote the theme song with Joe Raposo

Joe Raposo

Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH was a Portuguese-American composer, songwriter, pianist, television writer and lyricist, best known for his work on the children's television series Sesame Street, for which he wrote the theme song, as well as classic songs such as "Bein' Green" and "C is for Cookie"...

 and Jon Stone

Jon Stone

Jon Stone is best known for writing and producing Sesame Street, and is credited with helping develop characters such as Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch. He is regarded by many as one of the best children's television writers. He started working for children's programs in 1955...

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He also wrote the lyrics for Marlo Thomas

Marlo Thomas

Margaret Julia “Marlo” Thomas is an American actress, producer, and social activist known for her starring role on the TV series That Girl . She also serves as National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...

's Free to Be... You and Me from an album and television special of the same name in the early 1970s. Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

 and Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte

Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...

 also featured on both the album and special.

Hart also wrote "One Way Ticket" which became a hit for Cass Elliot

Cass Elliot

Cass Elliot , born Ellen Naomi Cohen and also known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and member of The Mamas & the Papas. After the group broke up, she released five solo albums. Elliot was found dead in her room in London, England, from an apparent heart attack after two weeks of sold-out...

. With his wife, he produced an Emmy Award-winning show for adolescents, Hot Hero Sandwich, which appeared on NBC in 1979. The Harts also wrote, directed, and produced the telemovie "Sooner or Later" which appeared on NBC in 1979. The couple also co-wrote several books, including Sooner or Later, published in 1978, and Waiting Games in 1981.

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