Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
For nearly 45 years, Sonia Manzano has been known to the world as Maria from "Sesame Street."
Manzano has won 15 Emmys for her writing on the series and received two acting nominations. But how did she get to "Sesame Street"?
It's a topic she writes about in her new memoir, "Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx."
Manzano was inspired to write her own memoir after reading "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt.
"His childhood was so miserable, yet he was able to depict it with wonder and humor," she said. "And I thought to myself, 'I had a miserable childhood. I have wonder and I have humor' ...and I wanted to try my hand at seeing if I could portray my childhood in as a sincere manner as he portrayed his."
She eventually found her way to "Sesame Street" after honing her talents as an actress, and turning down stereotypical roles during a time when she says Latinos were the butt of tacos jokes on television.
"It was a perfect storm. I found a lot of comfort from my tumultuous childhood watching television of the 1950s, so I think it's interesting that I ended up being a comfort zone for children watching television for comfort as I did," Manzano said.
Manzano has many favorite memories from all her years on the show, including getting married, having a baby, addressing death and having musical guests like Stevie Wonder and salsa singer Celia Cruz.
"I really thought that we had arrived, because nobody knew about Latin music," she said.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.