For the first time on television, they showed Latinos as real human beings, we weren't dope addicts. We weren't maids or prostitutes, which were the way we were being shown in television and in film. Here, on' Sesame Street,' there were different people who spoke different languages and ate interesting foods, and they were all Americans.

Emilio Delgado

Emilio Delgado (May 8, 1940 – March 10, 2022) was a Mexican American television, film and stage actor, voice artist and singer best known for his role as Luis, the Fix-it Shop owner, on the children's television series Sesame Street. Delgado joined the cast of Sesame Street in 1971 and remained until his contract was not renewed in 2016, as part of Sesame Workshop's re-tooling of the series, although Sesame Workshop later announced that there would be talks to bring him back. Following his departure, the workshop stated that Delgado would continue to represent them at public events. Delgado also appeared as Luis in the TV special Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration. He began his professional career in Los Angeles in 1968. Delgado lived in New York City with his wife Carole and also served on the Board of Directors at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, an LGBTQIA safe-place, community activist center, and educational bridge dedicated to honoring Bayard Rustin through their mission and good works.

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