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Frankbiondo

Frank Biondo, both before and behind the camera, in "Elmo's World: Cameras."

Frank Biondo and Frankie

Biondo and Frankie

Frank Biondo on location Montana

Biondo on location for the Trip to Montana.

FrankBiondo-Barkley

Biondo gets leapt on by Barkley in-between takes.

Frank Biondo (b. October 16, 1938) served as camera 1 operator on Sesame Street from the very first show through the 52nd season. He worked with Jim Henson on projects before Sesame as well (including the sitcom That's Life), and appeared as himself in a montage in "Elmo's World: Cameras." He has also served as a cameraman for other projects for Sesame Workshop, including Shalom Sesame, 3-2-1 Contact, and Panwapa.

Biondo is an Emmy winner in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Video Control for Sesame Street. He's spoken proudly of his work on the series:

This is the biggest show in the world. In the world! The biggest star on television is Big Bird. Big Hollywood stars come on the show, they bow down to Big Bird. At the end of the day, that's something I can brag about. Some other guy's going around saying, 'Hey, I work on The Tonight Show!' Yeah, good for you, buddy. I work with Big Bird![1]

Notes[]

  • Biondo founded the Make a Kid Smile Foundation which gives gifts to seriously ill children.
  • After the first season, Biondo was assigned to operate the boom mic for the show instead before transitioning back to camera operator.[2]
  • Frankie, a Muppet caricature of Biondo, has made recurring appearances on the show, most notably as cameraman for "The Alphabet Roadshow" in Episode 4125. In Episode 4203, the puppet appears selling t-shirts at a race, referencing Biondo's role of crafting shirts for the cast and crew each season.[3] Biondo lent his own voice to the character's appearance here, manipulated by David Rudman.[4]
  • Among the things that Alison Bartlett recalls from her first episode as Gina: "the sound of camera operator Frank Biondo’s frightening New York accent after every take stating “Dat was…average.”"[5]

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