Lou Berger '72

January 2007

Lou Berger has been welcomed into our homes for more than 17 years as one of the minds behind the highly acclaimed children's television program Sesame Street. He has been the head writer for 10 years and wrote the teleplay and song lyrics to "Sesame Street Stays Up Late," PBS's prime time New Year's celebration. Lou also co-wrote with Judy Freudberg "The Street We Live On," a prime time PBS special, celebrating Sesame Street's 35th anniversary.

Prior to his work on Sesame Street, Lou was one of the original writers for PBS's Reading Rainbow and was the head writer for Pinwheel on Nickelodeon. He was also the co-creator of Between the Lions on PBS. Lou has made numerous contributions as a playwright, co-writing Hawthorne Country for the Williamstown Theater Festival and Wild Boy, which had its world premiere at the Carlson Center for the Performing Arts in 2003.

In recognition of his writing achievements, Lou has won 10 Emmys for Outstanding Writing, and has been the recipient of a Grant for Playwriting from The National Endowment for the Arts. Lou has enjoyed working with students as a visiting professor of undergraduate and graduate playwriting at Hunter College and as guest lecturer at Harvard University's School of Education.

Lou is a 1968 graduate of the High School of Performing Arts, where he wrote and directed the senior musical. In 1972 he graduated with a B.A. (high honors) from the Theater Department of Hofstra University.