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Norman Stiles
Co-Founder, Head Writer
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Norman Stiles graduated from Hunter College in New York City, in 1964 with a BA degree in Zoology and Chemistry, which gave him the basic foundation for a career in comedy and children's educational television.
In late 1964 he began working for the New York City Department of Welfare as a Caseworker and then became a Supervisor in 1966. While at the Welfare Department he began writing freelance stand-up comedy for comedians who, shortly thereafter left show business.
In 1968 he got his first full-time comedy writing job on the staff of Merv Griffin's Late Night talk show, on CBS.
In 1970 he started writing for Sesame Street and became Head Writer in 1973.
In 1975 he left Sesame Street and went to Hollywood to work with Mel Brooks as co-creator and Co-Executive Script Consultant of the ABC Television sit-com, When Things Were Rotten, a parody of the Robin Hood legend.
In late 1975, When Things Were Rotten was cancelled and Stiles's dream of fame and fortune was crushed. Norman remained in Hollywood for the next 5 years, during which time he co-produced and or co-wrote episodes for various situation comedies, variety shows, TV pilot scripts and feature films, many of which never saw the light of day but paid him a pretty penny nonetheless. Those that were produced include :
* The Captain and Tennille, ABC TV Variety Show
* Frankie Avalon's CBS TV Summer Show
* Norman Lear's syndicated television satirical, talk show parodies, Fernwood 2-night, and America 2-night
* The Bad News Bears television series for ABC
In 1980 Norman returned to New York, where he resumed his work on Sesame Street and regained his sanity.
As Head Writer he supervised the Sesame Street writing staff of 15-20 writers, guiding the writing of over 2000 scripts.
During his career on Sesame Street he conceived, co-conceived, or supervised the development of characters such as: Count Von Count, Forgetful Jones, Sonny Friendly, H. Ross Parrot, Placido Flamingo, Elmo, Telly Monster, The Amazing Mumford, Zoe, Rosita, etc.
He wrote over 100 scripts for Sesame Street.
When the actor who played Mr. Hooper died, he wrote the Emmy Award winning script that explored the issue of death in terms that pre-schoolers could understand.
He consulted on Sesame Street international co-productions in Israel, Portugal, and Mexico, helping to develop their writing teams, and to create characters and formats unique to their cultures.
He authored Sesame Street books, including:
* Farmer Grover, Western Publishing
* The Count's Number Parade, Western Publishing
He co-authored Sesame Street books:
* The Sesame Street 123 Storybook, Random House
* The Sesame Street ABC Storybook,Random House
* The Perils of Penelope (featuring Ernie and Bert), Random House
* Around The Corner On Sesame Street, Random House
* Grover's Everything In The Whole Wide World Museum, Random House
He wrote Put Down the Duckie, a one-hour Sesame Street special for PBS, and two Sesame Street Live productions, Sleeping Birdie and Silly Dancing.
He was lyricist and/or co-lyricist on many Sesame Street songs such as: "Exit," "Danger," "Monster In The Mirror," "Put Down The Duckie," "Dance Myself To Sleep," "Do De Rubber Duck," etc.
In 1996 -- with Christopher Cerf, Michael Frith, and John Sculley -- Norman co-founded Sirius Thinking, Ltd., and co-created Between The Lions, a It premiered on PBS in April of 2000 and is currently being broadcast five days a week. Norman currently serves as co-executive producer and head writer of the program.
In addition to his work on Sesame Street and Between the Lions, Norman has:
* Co-written Free To Be... A Family, a prime-time television special, co-produced by Soviet Television and the Free To Be Foundation for ABC
* Served as a contributing writer to the Free To Be... A Family book, Bantam Books
* Contributed to Marlo Thomas' Thanks & Giving: All Year Long book and CD, Simon & Schuster Books/Atlantic Records
* Contributed to The Book Of Sequels
* Co-authored The Jewish Adventurer's Club, Dell Publishing
* Co-authored The Name Game, Pocket Books
* Co-authored Historical Cats, Balantine Books
* Written the children's book On My Very First School Day I Met. published by Milk and Cookies Press in 2005
AWARDS AND HONORARY DEGREES:
20+ Emmy Nominations and 12 Emmy awards for his work on Sesame Street and Between the Lions.
Television Critics' Association Award for Outstanding Achievement In Children"s Programming, Between the Lions, 2000 and 2001
Parent's Choice Award 2002 and 2003, Between the Lions.
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Western Maryland College
SPEECHES , SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS:
1984 - Western Maryland College Sesame Street Seminar
1999 - Keynote Speech for Boston After School Providers
2003 -Nick Jr. Workshop Writing for Children's Television
Co-Founder, Head Writer
Norman Stiles graduated from Hunter College in New York City, in 1964 with a BA degree in Zoology and Chemistry, which gave him the basic foundation for a career in comedy and children's educational television. In late 1964 he began working for the New York City Department of Welfare as a Caseworker and then became a Supervisor in 1966. While at the Welfare Department he began writing freelance stand-up comedy for comedians who, shortly thereafter left show business.
In 1968 he got his first full-time comedy writing job on the staff of Merv Griffin's Late Night talk show, on CBS.
In 1970 he started writing for Sesame Street and became Head Writer in 1973.
In 1975 he left Sesame Street and went to Hollywood to work with Mel Brooks as co-creator and Co-Executive Script Consultant of the ABC Television sit-com, When Things Were Rotten, a parody of the Robin Hood legend.In late 1975, When Things Were Rotten was cancelled and Stiles's dream of fame and fortune was crushed. Norman remained in Hollywood for the next 5 years, during which time he co-produced and or co-wrote episodes for various situation comedies, variety shows, TV pilot scripts and feature films, many of which never saw the light of day but paid him a pretty penny nonetheless. Those that were produced include :
* The Captain and Tennille, ABC TV Variety Show
* Frankie Avalon's CBS TV Summer Show
* Norman Lear's syndicated television satirical, talk show parodies, Fernwood 2-night, and America 2-night
* The Bad News Bears television series for ABC
In 1980 Norman returned to New York, where he resumed his work on Sesame Street and regained his sanity.
As Head Writer he supervised the Sesame Street writing staff of 15-20 writers, guiding the writing of over 2000 scripts.
During his career on Sesame Street he conceived, co-conceived, or supervised the development of characters such as: Count Von Count, Forgetful Jones, Sonny Friendly, H. Ross Parrot, Placido Flamingo, Elmo, Telly Monster, The Amazing Mumford, Zoe, Rosita, etc.He wrote over 100 scripts for Sesame Street.
When the actor who played Mr. Hooper died, he wrote the Emmy Award winning script that explored the issue of death in terms that pre-schoolers could understand.
He consulted on Sesame Street international co-productions in Israel, Portugal, and Mexico, helping to develop their writing teams, and to create characters and formats unique to their cultures.
He authored Sesame Street books, including:
* Farmer Grover, Western Publishing
* The Count's Number Parade, Western Publishing
He co-authored Sesame Street books:
* The Sesame Street 123 Storybook, Random House
* The Sesame Street ABC Storybook,Random House
* The Perils of Penelope (featuring Ernie and Bert), Random House
* Around The Corner On Sesame Street, Random House
* Grover's Everything In The Whole Wide World Museum, Random House
He wrote Put Down the Duckie, a one-hour Sesame Street special for PBS, and two Sesame Street Live productions, Sleeping Birdie and Silly Dancing. He was lyricist and/or co-lyricist on many Sesame Street songs such as: "Exit," "Danger," "Monster In The Mirror," "Put Down The Duckie," "Dance Myself To Sleep," "Do De Rubber Duck," etc.
In 1996 -- with Christopher Cerf, Michael Frith, and John Sculley -- Norman co-founded Sirius Thinking, Ltd., and co-created Between The Lions, a It premiered on PBS in April of 2000 and is currently being broadcast five days a week. Norman currently serves as co-executive producer and head writer of the program.
In addition to his work on Sesame Street and Between the Lions, Norman has:
* Co-written Free To Be... A Family, a prime-time television special, co-produced by Soviet Television and the Free To Be Foundation for ABC
* Served as a contributing writer to the Free To Be... A Family book, Bantam Books
* Contributed to Marlo Thomas' Thanks & Giving: All Year Long book and CD, Simon & Schuster Books/Atlantic Records
* Contributed to The Book Of Sequels
* Co-authored The Jewish Adventurer's Club, Dell Publishing
* Co-authored The Name Game, Pocket Books
* Co-authored Historical Cats, Balantine Books
* Written the children's book On My Very First School Day I Met. published by Milk and Cookies Press in 2005
AWARDS AND HONORARY DEGREES:
20+ Emmy Nominations and 12 Emmy awards for his work on Sesame Street and Between the Lions.
Television Critics' Association Award for Outstanding Achievement In Children"s Programming, Between the Lions, 2000 and 2001
Parent's Choice Award 2002 and 2003, Between the Lions.
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Western Maryland College
SPEECHES , SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS:
1984 - Western Maryland College Sesame Street Seminar
1999 - Keynote Speech for Boston After School Providers
2003 -Nick Jr. Workshop Writing for Children's Television
The six-time Emmy Award winning BETWEEN THE LIONS, produced by WGBH, Sirius Thinking, and Mississippi Public Broadcasting, has recently premiered ten exciting new episodes on PBS KIDS. Click here for details! 