Danny Seagren, the Jim Henson-trained puppeteer who performed on the kids show The Electric Company as a silent Spider-Man in the first live-action depiction of the Marvel superhero, has died. He was 81.
A resident of Little River, south Carolina, Seagren died Nov.10, his family announced.
On Electric Company sister show sesame Street, Seagren stepped in for Caroll Spinney to play Big Bird on several episodes and put on the yellow-feathered costume for events, parades and live appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.
seagren also created and manned puppet characters for such other kids shows as Captain Kangaroo, Miss Peach of the Kelly School – he created that and received a Daytime Emmy in 1980 for a Thanksgiving Day episode – and Who’s Afraid of Opera starring Joan Sutherland.
A professionally trained dancer, Seagren was working for Henson with The Muppets in 1974 when he heard that PBS’ The Electric Company from the Children’s television Workshop, was looking for someone to play Spider-Man.
He landed an audition for producer Andrew Ferguson and thought,”I’ve got to knock his socks off,somehow,'” he recalled in a 2017 interview with Mark Elitz,author of the 2015 book How to Be a superhero.
seagren said he put on the costume and climbed on top of a filing cabinet, and when Ferguson came back, “I jumped over his shoulder – but not quite over his head – and landed on the desk in the middle of the room. I don’t remember if he screamed but he said, ‘Oh, my God.’ I did a few more moves and he said, ‘You got the job.'”
Performing in pantomimed skits called “Spidey Super
Daniel Seagren, Spider-Man on ‘The electric company,’ Dies at 80
Daniel Morley seagren, best known for portraying Spider-Man on the educational children’s television program The Electric Company, died on November 26, 2023, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. he was 80 years old.
Born November 15, 1943, in Minneapolis, seagren began his career as a performer with Jim henson, joining the Muppet creator in 1968.Henson sought someone with no prior puppetry experience, and after a brief audition, Seagren was tasked with learning the craft. As he recalled in a 2015 interview,Henson simply handed him a puppet and asked him to return for rehearsal the following week.
Within two weeks, Seagren found himself performing with a reindeer puppet on The Ed sullivan Show. He later appeared as Big Bird in a dance number with “Bird Watchers” to promote the debut of Sesame Street in 1969.
Seagren’s most recognizable role came with The Electric Company, where he portrayed Spider-Man in approximately three dozen appearances over nearly 400 episodes. Notably, his Spider-Man character did not speak, communicating instead through cartoon “thought bubbles” designed to encourage young viewers to read. The popularity of his portrayal led to a spin-off Marvel comic book series, Spidey Super Stories.
Following his time on The Electric Company, Seagren spent about three years on Captain Kangaroo.He also toured as spider-Man,sometimes alongside Adam west and Burt Ward,the stars of the 1960s Batman television series,finding these engagements a valuable source of income.He remained a popular guest at comic book conventions throughout his life.
Seagren reflected fondly on the impact of his work, noting that he frequently enough met adults in their 40s who remembered The Electric Company and his Spider-Man fondly. “They really remember it and say that I was their favorite character,” he said. “That’s very flattering.”
He is survived by his longtime companion, Kate Vereau, his brother Stephen, sister-in-law Jill, and nephew Sean.
A festivity of life is being planned. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to the Entertainment Community Fund (formerly The Actors Fund) at https://entertainmentcommunity.org/.
Sources:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9KnCpau0l8
* https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/adam-west-dead-batman-star-832264/ (for context regarding Adam West)
* https://entertainmentcommunity.org/