‘Sesame Street’ star Emilio Delgado dead at 81

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Emilio Delgado – known for his role as Luis on the era-spanning children’s show "Sesame Street," has died, Fox News Digital can confirm. He was 81.

"We are saddened by the news of Emilio’s passing," Robert Attermann, CEO of A3 Artists Agency told Fox News in a statement on Thursday. "Emilio was an immense talent who brought so much joy and smiles to his fans. He will be missed by many and we know his legacy will live on. Our thoughts are with his loved ones, including his wife, Carole."

Delgado’s wife, Carole Delgado, told TMZ that the actor, singer and voice artist had been battling blood cancer for the past few years and died surrounded by his family in New York City.

The lively personality was also a trained stage performer and appeared in numerous "Sesame Street" productions and got his break back in 1971 when he began singing as Luis the owner of the "Fix-It Shop."

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Sesame Street's Luis has died at age 81. (Photo by Chris Hondros)

Born into Mexican-American heritage in Southern California, Delgado told the Houston Chronicle in 2020 that he was raised by his grandparents and took up repair work in a shop before he and his family relocated to Los Angeles.

It was there where Delgado began playing the trombone and drums before trying his hand at singing and acting. His leap of faith would soon pay off when Delgado was cast in the Mexican-American soap opera "Cancion de la Raza."

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"I’d been trying all my professional life to be somewhere I can change that, whether I was talking about it or trying to get into a project that showed Latinos in a good light," he explained to the Chronicle. "That’s why ‘Sesame Street’ was such a good thing. 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 in film," he added.

Emilio Delgado attends the "Street Gang: How We Got To Sesame Street" Special Screening at Symphony Space on December 10, 2021, in New York City. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld)

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"Here, on ‘Sesame Street,’ there were different people who spoke different languages and ate interesting foods, and they were all Americans."

Carole Delgado further relayed to TMZ that her husband had been working up until his death, still performing voiceover work in January 2022.

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Throughout his career, Delgado appeared in other television shows, including "Quincy M.E.," "Falcon Crest," "Lou Grant," "Law & Order," "Person of Interest" and "House of Cards."