On Sesame Street, the multi-talented Sonia Manzano has served both as a performer (she's played Maria since the Nixon Administration) and a staff writer (sharing 13 Emmys for writing for a children's series). Recently, TV Guide Online met with Manzano at the Sesame Workshop on New York's Upper West Side to learn all about one of TV's most unique jobs.
TV Guide Online: Maria must be one of the longest-running characters on television. You're right up there with Susan Lucci's Erica on All My Children!Sonia Manzano: Right. In the beginning, she used to run a lending library in a bookstore where the fix-it shop is now. In those days, 20-year-olds looked 14, not like today. So I kinda came on the show as a "teen." I've been able to be the same character — albeit one that fell in love, got married, had a baby, grew up. I've been able to
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