Danny Seagren, the first performer ever to play Spider-Man in live action, has died.
The Jim Henson–trained puppeteer died on November 10 at his home in Little River, South Carolina, aged 81, his family confirmed.
Mr Seagren made television history on the PBS series The Electric Company, where he portrayed Spider-Man in a series of silent, pantomimed sketches that introduced the Marvel hero to a generation of children.
The character communicated through cartoon thought bubbles, helping young viewers develop reading skills while battling villains such as the Funny Bunny and the Birthday Bandit.
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Danny Seagren
|A trained dancer from Minneapolis, Mr Seagren moved to New York in the late 1960s, where a chance encounter with Jim Henson changed the course of his career.
Henson personally trained him in puppetry in 1968. “He wanted to train someone who had never done puppets before,” Mr Seagren said in a 2015 interview.
“He said, ‘Here’s a puppet, take it home, come back on Tuesday and we’ll rehearse.’”
Within two weeks, Mr Seagren was performing a reindeer puppet on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Danny Seagren
|His career quickly expanded: he covered for Caroll Spinney as Big Bird on Sesame Street, performed in parades and live specials, and contributed to Captain Kangaroo, Who’s Afraid of Opera with Joan Sutherland, and Miss Peach of the Kelly School.
He won a Daytime Emmy in 1980 for his work on a Thanksgiving episode.
His audition for The Electric Company in 1974 became legendary. “I jumped over his shoulder, but not quite over his head, and landed on the desk in the middle of the room,” Mr Seagren recalled of his leap over producer Andrew Ferguson.
“I did a few more moves and he said, ‘You got the job."
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Mr Seagren appeared in around three dozen episodes of the children’s programme, working alongside stars including Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman.
He remained a beloved figure among fans, attending comic conventions where adults often approached him with memories of watching his Spider-Man as children.
He is survived by his longtime companion Kate Vereau, his brother Dr Stephen L. Seagren, sister-in-law Jill R. Seagren and nephew Sean G. Seagren.
The family plans a celebration of life at a later date, and has requested that memorial donations be made to the Entertainment Community Fund.
“Danny will be greatly missed by his family, friends and those throughout the community he loved living in,” they said.
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