Tony Geiss

Tony Geiss (November 16, 1924 - January 21, 2011) was a staff writer and songwriter for Sesame Street and related productions, often teamed with Judy Freudberg. Geiss conceptualized the Honkers (based on his own childhood habit of honking his nose) and Abby Cadabby.

Geiss' early TV career was spent in London scripting The David Frost Show, and first joined Children's Television Workshop as a writer on the health series Feelin' Good. He also scripted television specials and revues for the likes of Dick Cavett and Bill Cosby. In the 1980s, after scripting Follow That Bird as his cinematic debut, Geiss and Freudberg co-wrote the Don Bluth animated features An American Tail and The Land Before Time. He was also credited as head writer for several Sesame Street home videos.

Geiss' father Anthony Geiss was a painter and an animator, while mother Marjorie Thirer was a press agent. Geiss grew up in Greenwich Village, spending two years as a radar technician for the US Navy, before attending Cornell University from 1943 to 1946. He began acting in theatre productions in his freshman year, and met his wife Phyllis Eisen on campus.

Composer Credits

"All I Want for Christmas Is You"

"Alone in a Swamp"

"Alone Together"

"At the Bus Stop Sign"

"Baby, You're So Smart"

"Be Proud of Your Hair"

"Because We're Friends"

"Being a Bear"

"Big Brass Band"

"The Boogie-Woogie Piggies"

"Bountiful Tree"

"A Brief History of Motion Pictures"

"Broken and Beautiful"

"Brothers and Sisters"

"Brown Bird in the Cherry Tree"

"Butterfly"

"Caribbean Air"

"Can't Help Lovin' That Moo of Mine"

"Chirrup"

"Coconut Tree"

"Counting Bayou Fives"

"Country in the City"

"Dancin' Beak to Beak"

"Different"

"Different People, Different Ways"

"Different Street"

"Disco D"

"Do Something"

"Doing the Penguin"

"Don't Be Afraid to Try"

"Don't Eat the Pictures"

"Don't Forget to Watch the Movie"

"The Dusting Song"

"Earth, Rain and Mud"

"Earthworm"

"Eight Balls of Fur"

"Elephant Stomp"

"Elmo's Song"

"Elmo Can Fly"

"Everybody's Doin' This Dance"

"Everyone Needs a Friend"

"Exactly Like You"

"Fabulous Rainbow"

"Find-a-Husband Ball"

"The First Chicken in Space"

"The First Time"

"Fixin' My Hair"

"Food Song"

"The Frogs in the Glen"

"Frog of the Year"

"Get Up! Get Out!"

"Gingerbread Man"

"Give Your Friend an Easter Egg for Christmas"

"Going to Kyoto"

"Goodbye, Little Cookie"

"Good Morning, Mister Sun"

"Grandmas"

"Great Big Beautiful World"

"The Grouch's Lullaby"

"Grover Work Song"

"Happy Blues"

"Helping People"

"Hey Little Worm"

"Holding Hands"

"Homesick"

"Honk Around the Clock"

"Horse Sense"

"I Am Not Afraid"

"I Don't Wanna Be a Prince"

"I Get a Kick Out of U"

"I Gotta Be Clean"

"I Laugh When I'm Happy"

"I Love Words"

"I Want to Be Your Friend"

"I Want to Thank You for Being My Friends"

"If I Was a Cloud in the Sky"

"If Elmo Could Go to the Ball"

"Il Alphabetto"

"I'll Never Run Out of Love"

"I'm Proud to Be a Cow"

"I'm So Proud (You're My Baby)"

"I'm Square"

"Important Piece of String"

"It's All Right to Cry"

"It's Not How Big You Are"

"Just the Way You Are" (spoof lyrics)

"Keep the Park Clean for the Pigeons"

"A Kid and His Dog"

"Kids With Wings"

"Lambaba"

"Lazy Summer Day"

"Let's Go Tubbin' Today"

"Letter of the Day"

"Like a Rolling Plant"

"A Little Grouch Music"

"Little Sister is a Big Girl Now"

"Making Believe"

"Me Gusta"

"Mothers and Children"

"My Best Friend"

"My Furry Little Shadow"

"Near Far Monsters"

"One Thing Leads to Another"

"Oscar's Trashtime Band"

"Pasta"

"People, Who Needs 'Em?"

"Phone Book Alphabet"

"Picture a Park"

"Pigeon"

"Pigeons on Parade"

"Plan Ahead"

"Poconoko"

"Postcard Song"

"Practice Song"

"Reach Your Hand Up High"

"Read Me a Story"

"Sing After Me"

"Sing, Little Bluebird"

"Sixteen Samba"

"Sleepytime on Sesame Street"

"Snowflakes"

"Song About Tr"

"A Song for Two"

"Song of Forgetful Jones"

"Staying Overnight with a Friend"

"Sully's Love Song (Yes)"

"Surprise"

"Swingin' Alphabet"

"Take Care of That Smile"

"Talkin' Scat"

"That's What Friends Are For"

"The Most Important Meal of the Day"

"There's a Big Heap of Trash at the End of the Rainbow"

BestOfOscar.jpg

"The Things I Love"

"Thinking of U"

"This Old Chair"

"Three Grouches Would a Wooing Go"

"Three Sides Now"

"Tickle Me Land"

"The Transylvania Polka"

"Vegetable Lion"

"Waitin' at the Bus Stop Sign for You"

"Walk This Way"

"Walkin' Down My Street"

"Walking Proud"

"We Are All Monsters"

"We Coulda"

"We Found Ernie"

"We Love Your Nose"

"We're a Family"

"What a Gift"

"What Do You Do on a Farm?"

"What's Your Name"

"When I Listen"

"When It's Time for a Snack"

"Who Could Forget the Day That We Met"

"Wonderful Me"

"Worm Soliloquy"

"You Gotta Be Patient (To Be a Patient)"

"You're Gonna Be a Star"

"You're My Friend"

Writing Credits

• Sesame Street
• Don't Eat the Pictures
• Follow That Bird
• Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting
• Dance Along!
• Sing-Along Earth Songs
• Elmo Saves Christmas
• The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street
• CinderElmo
• Elmo's World segments: Dinosaurs, Doctors, Ears, Fish, Jumping, Penguins, School, Skin, Weather, Wild Animals

Books

• The Count Counts a Party
• Elmo Saves Christmas
• The Four Seasons
• Honk If You Like Honkers
• The Sesame Street Bedtime Storybook
• The Sesame Street Treasury Volume 4
• The Songs of Sesame Street in Poems and Pictures
• Susan and Gordon Adopt a Baby
• Vegetable Soup

Interviews

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation interviewed Geiss in 2004 for the Archive of American Television. The hour and a half interview was posted on YouTube in 2008.

File:Tony Geiss - Archive interview Part 1 of 3 Part 1

File:Tony Geiss - Archive Interview Part 2 of 3 Part 2

File:Tony Geiss - Archive Interview Part 3 of 3 Part 3

External links

• Joseph Berger, "Tony Geiss, 86, Writer for ‘Sesame Street,’ Dies", The New York Times, January 30, 2011.