What Oscar Winner Starred on ‘The Electric Company’? The Top 5 Most Electrifying Characters

When The Electric Company first debuted in 1971, I was still a devoted fan of Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Grover, characters from Sesame Street, created by the same brilliant minds at the Children’s Television Workshop. However, as I matured ever so slightly over the next couple of years, I found myself increasingly captivated by The Electric Company.

THE ELECTRIC COMPANY, Rita Moreno, 1971-77

Everett Collection

One undeniable reason for this shift was the show’s incredibly talented cast. Take for example Rita Moreno — one of the cast members. If there was one thing The Electric Company was known for, it was one of her characters, I think her name was Millie, who would scream, “Hey you guys!” at the top of her lungs. Those segments, and that particular phrase, became so popular that after a couple of years, the show’s intro began with Rita shouting her instantly recognizable phrase. And of course, that phrase became even more a part of pop-culture history when a triumphant Sloth yelled it during one of the climatic pivotal scenes in the classic eighties movie The Goonies.

Here we count down my top five favorite characters from the show.

5 J. Arthur Crank (Jim Boyd)

Jim Boyd’s character J. Arthur Crank consistently cracked me up. He was a bit like J. Jonah Jameson from Spider-Man, and a human version of Oscar the Grouch; in fact, the two even teamed up once! Crank’s signature move was to burst into a sketch, interrupting everything when something simply didn’t make sense to him. It’s truly a testament to Jim’s talent that this cantankerous grump was so darn likable.

4 Easy Reader (Morgan Freeman)

THE ELECTRIC COMPANY, Lee Chamberlin, Morgan Freeman, 1971-1977, 1971 episode

Lee Chamberlin and Morgan Freeman. Credit: Everett Collection

Number four is none other than the Oscar-winning Morgan Freeman as Easy Reader. Man, that dude was so cool; he made me want to read! I wanted to be just like him, with his fancy sunglasses and super-hip leather vest. And Easy certainly had a way with the ladies, especially those foxy librarians.

I’ve got to hand it to Morgan; he completely sold me on this reading thing. If I wasn’t a believer beforehand, I certainly was after seeing how cool it made Easy Reader (and by extension, how cool it would surely make me). I think the only guy cooler than Easy Reader in the 1970s was Fonzie, but that’s a topic for another day.

3 Fargo North, Decoder (Skip Hinnant)

THE ELECTRIC COMPANY, from left: Skip Hinnant, Rita Moreno, 1971-77.

Skip Hinnant and Rita Moreno. Credit: Everett Collection

Coming in at the third spot is Skip Hinnant as Fargo North, Decoder. He was a detective of sorts, a self-proclaimed “world’s most famous decoder of messages.” The character was slightly reminiscent of Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther movies. Case after case, North would have to decode and/or unscramble messages.

These segments were so much fun. There’s a rhythm to them, as there is with most good comedy sketches, a comedic beat, if you will. The character definitely had its fans, so much so that Fargo North, along with Easy Reader, was the most marketed of all the original Electric Company characters. (Notice how I say “original.” Keep reading, I’ll get to that.)

2 Jennifer of the Jungle (Judy Graubart)

THE ELECTRIC COMPANY, Judy Graubart, 1971-77

Judy Graubart. Credit: Everett Collection

Number two is Jennifer of the Jungle, played by Judy Graubart. In all of her sketches, Judy just seemed so darn incredibly nice. To make things even better, Jennifer had a gorilla companion named Paul, and inside the suit was J. Arthur Crank himself, Jim Boyd!

I always thought Judy could have been on Saturday Night Live or Second City Television; she just had that kind of star quality. Instead, she appeared in a bunch of commercials during the seventies. I think advertisers realized that Judy’s trademark niceness made her seem like a trusted friend, someone who could genuinely tell you which laundry detergent worked best or which eye drops were most effective. Jennifer of the Jungle and Paul even made an appearance in the Spidey Super Stories comic book.

1 Spider-Man (Danny Seagren)

ELECTRIC COMPANY, Valerie the Librarian (Hattie Winston), Jennifer of the Jungle (Judy Graubart), Easy Reader (Morgan Freeman), Paul the Gorilla (Jim Boyd), Fargo North Decoder (Skip Hinant), Spiderman (Danny Seagren), the Director (Rita Moreno), and Igor (Luis Avalos), 1971-1977.

Spiderman (Danny Seagren), Igor (Luis Avalos), Valerie the Librarian (Hattie Winston), Jennifer of the Jungle (Judy Graubart), Easy Reader (Morgan Freeman), Paul the Gorilla (Jim Boyd), Fargo North Decoder (Skip Hinant) and the Director (Rita Moreno). Credit: Everett Collection

My favorite character from The Electric Company is none other than your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! The first live-action TV Spider-Man, in fact, played by Danny Seagren. Spidey showed up during later seasons of the show. The use of Spider-Man on the show was actually a gift from Marvel Comics and Stan Lee. Crazy like a fox, Stan knew that teaching kids to read, especially with a character like Spidey, would lead kids directly to his comic books.

So, The Electric Company was able to use the character free of charge, and they did so during 29 short segments, which ran from 1974 to 1977, and then — of course — much later on in reruns. Just like in the comic books, this particular version of Spider-Man only talked through word balloons. He also didn’t tackle the big baddies—the supervillains you would read about in the comics and see later on in the movies. But still, it was Spider-Man, and he was live action and on TV which was a first for the Marvel comics character at the time.

Every day, I would rush home from school, hoping that Spidey would show up on The Electric Company that evening. And Spidey Super Stories proved to be very popular, so much so that Marvel launched an easy-to-read Spidey Super Stories comic book. Spidey Super Stories also showed up in audio format on Peter Pan Records. Like I said, Stan Lee was crazy like a fox. He truly was the most talented, smartest guys within the comic book industry.