--- description: Sesame Street won't be the same title: Sesame Street's Maria Is Retiring After 44 Years image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd1b666e09b99e58/69885986a988ca28d86b3507/sonia-manzano-maria-sesame-street-grover.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Sesame Street_'s Maria Is Retiring After 44 Years by [Drew Mackie / People](/author/people/) ## Drew Mackie / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 2, 2015 4:57 PM CUT  Sonia Manzano, who plays Maria Rodriquez on "Sesame Street," and the muppet Grover at an event in New York City on Feb. 27, 2002. Sonia Manzano, who plays Maria Rodriquez on "Sesame Street," and the muppet Grover at an event in New York City on Feb. 27, 2002.George De Sota—Getty Images by [Drew Mackie / People](/author/people/) ## Drew Mackie / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 2, 2015 4:57 PM CUT She’s helped generations of children grow up and she’s met many a Muppet in her day. But after 44 years playing human [_Sesame Street_](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,MediaProductsTax:TVSesameStreet,00.html "undefined") resident Maria, actress Sonia Manzano is retiring. Manzano, 65, [made the announcement](https://twitter.com/amlibraries/status/615598035867844608/photo/1 "undefined") on Tuesday during an address at the American Library Association Annual Conference. She has since fielded an outpouring of grief from fans. > [](https://twitter.com/nickmoreau/status/616003458446008320) > [](https://twitter.com/Mbtoon05/status/616002550035271680) > [](https://twitter.com/NKCoverGrrl/status/615971539238940672) _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/sesame-street-maria-retires-sonia-manzano "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3944890/sesame-street-sonia-manzano-retire/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3944890/sesame-street-sonia-manzano-retire/"},"headline":"Sesame Street's Maria Is Retiring After 44 Years","datePublished":"2015-07-02T16:57:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:44:36.709Z","description":"Sesame Street won't be the same","url":"https://time.com/3944890/sesame-street-sonia-manzano-retire/","keywords":["Television","celebrities","Sesame Street"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd1b666e09b99e58/69885986a988ca28d86b3507/sonia-manzano-maria-sesame-street-grover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Drew Mackie / People"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd1b666e09b99e58/69885986a988ca28d86b3507/sonia-manzano-maria-sesame-street-grover.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sonia Manzano, who plays Maria Rodriquez on \"Sesame Street,\" and the muppet Grover at an event in New York City on Feb. 27, 2002.","caption":"Sonia Manzano, who plays Maria Rodriquez on \"Sesame Street,\" and the muppet Grover at an event in New York City on Feb. 27, 2002.","creditText":"George De Sota—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3944890/sesame-street-sonia-manzano-retire/","name":"Sesame Street's Maria Is Retiring After 44 Years"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sesame Street's Viral Ambitions","description":"With video parodies of viral ads and TV shows like Mad Men, Sesame Street is getting kids' attention online while hooking in their parents, too","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kZ0ZhYFn/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-11-09T15:56:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kZ0ZhYFn.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3944890/sesame-street-sonia-manzano-retire/","duration":"PT4M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3944890/sesame-street-sonia-manzano-retire/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```