MARK SALTZMAN is an American script writer who has written films, plays and musicals and for TV. He worked for several years for Sesame Street. He has been given seven Emmy Awards for Best Writing for a Children’s Show. We are unable to ascertain his birthdate, so we’ll put him in today.

Saltzman started his career writing cabaret shows and musicals that played at New York City venues such as The Ballroom, Soho Rep, 13th Street Theater, and The Village Gate, where he co-wrote the long-running revue A, My Name is Alice.

As a writer on the musical revue A, My Name Is Alice, he befriended cast member Alaina Reed, who had also been cast as Olivia on Sesame Street. Saltzman began working for Sesame Street in 1984, where he was a writer for 15 years. He created the Muppet character of Plácido Flamingo for season 18, and wrote more than 50 songs, including the lyrics for “Caribbean Amphibian” and “I’ve Got a New Way to Walk.” He also created the character The Sublime Miss M, a take on Bette Midler. He has seven Emmy Awards.

For CBS, Saltzman wrote Mrs. Santa Claus, a holiday musical movie starring Angela Lansbury with songs written by Broadway legend Jerry Herman. He also wrote The Adventures of Milo and Otis and Three Ninjas Kick Back.

His TV movie, The Red Sneakers, which was directed by and starred Gregory Hines, aired on Showtime in 2004 and was nominated for a Writers Guild Award. For cable TV’s here! network Mark wrote the screenplay for Third Man Out, based on the novel by Richard Stevenson.

In 2007, Mark served as writer-producer of the Emmy-nominated Disney channel show “Johnny and the Sprites,” starring John Tartaglia.

Saltzman wrote The Adventures of Milo and Otis, Napoleon and 3 Ninjas Kick Back. He has also written screenplays for Sony, Universal Studios, and Disney.

Saltzman‘s partner, Arnold “Arnie” Glassman, was a film editor known for his work on The Celluloid Closet and Frailty. After first meeting in October 1979, by 1986 they were living together as an out couple in New York. They were together for 20 years before Glassman died in 2003. According to Saltzman, when writing the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie, he wrote their interpersonal dynamic, playfulness and loving bond as a reflection of his own relationship with Glassman. Saltzman currently lives in Los Angeles. He has confirmed that Bert and Ernie were a couple, largely modeled after his own relationship with Glassman.