Sonia Manzano: Difference between revisions

| image = Sonia Manzano - 2015 National Book Festival.jpg

| caption = Manzano at the 2015 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, DC

| years_active = 1971–present

| known_for = [[Maria Figueroa Rodriguez|Maria]] on ''[[Sesame Street]]''

| website = {{URL|http://www.soniamanzano.com/}}

}}

 

Her memoir, ''Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx'' was published in 2015, and her works include the novel ''The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano'' as well as several children's books. She is the creator of the animated children's television series ''[[Alma's Way]]'', from [[Fred Rogers Productions]], and serves as an executive producer, writer and voice actor for the show.

Manzano joined the production of ''[[Sesame Street]]'' in 1971, where she eventually began writing scripts for the series. On June 29, 2015, it was announced that Manzano would be retiring from the show after 44 years.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.avclub.com/article/44-years-after-joining-show-sesame-streets-maria-r-221689|title = 44 years after joining the show, Sesame Street's Maria is retiring|access-date = July 2, 2015|website = [[The A.V. Club]]| date=July 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/sonia-manzano-sesame-street-maria-retire/|title = Sonia Manzano, Maria on 'Sesame Street,' to Retire After 44 Years|date = July 2, 2015|work=ArtsBeat - New York Times Blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet|author=American Libraries|author-link=American Libraries|user=amlibraries|number=615598035867844608 |date=June 29, 2015|title=After 45 years on Sesame Street, @SoniaMManzano will no longer appear on the next season. #alaac15}}</ref> Manzano did, however, later reprise the role of Maria in the 2019 television special ''[[Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2019-11-09/sesame-street-50-special|title = Who is the 'Sesame Street' 50th anniversary special actually for?|date= November 9, 2019|access-date = June 14, 2020|website = [[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

 

 

 

 

In several episodes of the animated [[Nickelodeon]] series ''[[The Loud House]]'', Manzano provides the voice of Bobby and Ronnie Anne Santiago's grandmother, Rosa Casagrande, a role she reprises in the spinoff ''[[The Casagrandes]]''. She also portrays Judge Gloria Pepitone in ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]''. She also provided the voice-over narration in several animated segments in the English version of the Swedish television show ''[[Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter]]''.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

 

== Honors and awards ==

 

 

Manzano has received awards from the [[Association of Hispanic Arts]], the [[Congressional Hispanic Caucus]], the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, the Hispanic Heritage Award for Education in 2003, and the "Groundbreaking Latina Lifetime Achievement" award from the National Association of Latina Leaders in 2005.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2012/01/emmy%C2%AE-winner-and-author-sonia-manzano-opens-joint-conference-librarians-color |title=Emmy® winner and author Sonia Manzano opens Joint Conference of Librarians of Color |publisher=American Library Association |date=March 1, 2012 |access-date=July 3, 2015}}</ref> In 2005, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from [[University of Notre Dame]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The 2005 honorary degree recipients |url=https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/the-2005-honorary-degree-recipients/ |website=Notre Dame Magazine |publisher=[[University of Notre Dame]] |access-date=12 December 2022 |date=Summer 2005}}</ref> The Dream Big Initiative of the [[Bronx Children's Museum]] honored Manzano in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bronxchildrensmuseum.org/#!dream-big-initiative/c1lpj|title=Bronx Children's Museum|access-date=July 2, 2015}}</ref>

 

On May 1, 2016, she received the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award from the [[National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences]] presented to her by [[Rita Moreno]] and [[Mario Lopez]], with a special introduction by [[Lin-Manuel Miranda]] and a retrospective of her career on ''[[Sesame Street]]'' featuring a montage of clips of her most iconic moments including Maria's classic Charlie Chaplin routine, her marriage to Luis, the birth of her daughter Gabi, coping with the death of Mr. Hooper, and appearances by fellow cast and guests including [[Emilio Delgado]], [[Bob McGrath]], [[Alan Muraoka]], [[Loretta Long]], [[Big Bird]], [[Rosita (Sesame Street)|Rosita]], [[Elmo]], and Sonia's real life friend Supreme Court Justice [[Sonia Sotomayor]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hennes|first=Joe|date=2016-05-05|title=Watch Sonia Manzano Receive Her Lifetime Achievement Emmy|url=https://toughpigs.com/sonia-emmy/|access-date=2021-10-08|website=ToughPigs|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Gonzalez 2015">{{cite news |last1=Gonzalez |first1=David |title=2 Proud Daughters of the Bronx Share More Than a Name |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/03/nyregion/sotomayor-and-manzano-of-the-bronx-share-more-than-the-first-name-sonia.html |access-date=12 December 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 2, 2015}}</ref>

 

== References ==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manzano, Sonia}}

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni]]

[[Category:Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni]]

[[Category:American film actresses]]

[[Category:American voice actresses]]

[[Category:American women television personalities]]

[[Category:American television writers]]

[[Category:Writers from Manhattan]]

[[Category:Screenwriters from New York (state)]]

[[Category:American women television writers]]

[[Category:People from the Upper West Side]]

[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]

[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]

[[Category:1950 births]]