Joan Ganz Cooney (born November 30, 1929 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American television producer. She is one of the founders of the Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop), and the organization famous for the creation of the children's television show Sesame Street. Cooney received her B.A. degree in education from the University of Arizona in 1951.
Cooney was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1998, and the ...
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Joan Ganz Cooney (born November 30, 1929 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American television producer. She is one of the founders of the Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop), and the organization famous for the creation of the children's television show Sesame Street. Cooney received her B.A. degree in education from the University of Arizona in 1951.
Cooney was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Television Hall of Fame.
She has been married to Peter G. Peterson, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, since April 1980. Unable to have children of her own, she became a stepmother to Peterson's five children. She lives in New York City.
Cooney was born Joan Ganz, and adopted the name Joan Redden Ganz, using her mother's maiden name. Cooney's mother was Irish-Catholic, and born in Jackson, Michigan. After her maternal grandfather died, her mother's family came west when she was 18 or 19. Her father was Jewish and was born in Phoenix, but his...
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