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Rita Moreno is an accomplished actress with an iconic 70-year career that includes two Emmy Awards, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, making her one of only 27 people to achieve EGOT status. One of the many roles she is recognized for is her six-year stint on the 1970s educational children's television series, 'The Electric Company'. On the show, Moreno played several characters, including Millie the Helper, who became known for the show's iconic catchphrase, Hey, you guys!.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Rita Moreno's role in The Electric Company | Millie the Helper, Otto the Director, Pandora the Brat, and Bess West |
| The Electric Company's first air date | October 25, 1971 |
| The Electric Company's last air date | April 15, 1977 |
| Total number of seasons | Six |
| Total number of episodes | 780 |
| The Electric Company's genre | Educational children's television series |
| The Electric Company's format | Sketch comedy |
| The Electric Company's purpose | To help elementary school students develop their reading and grammar skills |
| Rita Moreno's co-stars in The Electric Company | Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Lee Chamberlin, Luis Ávalos, Jim Boyd, Judy Graubart, Skip Hinnant, and Hattie Winston |
| Rita Moreno's notable catchphrase in The Electric Company | "Hey, you guys!" |
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What You'll Learn
Rita Moreno played Millie the Helper
The Electric Company was one of Moreno's most recognised roles. She fondly remembered her time on the show and the impact it had on its viewers. Moreno also won a Grammy for Best Children's Album with The Electric Company soundtrack. In addition to her role as Millie the Helper, Moreno portrayed other characters on the show, including Otto the Director, Pandora the Brat, and Bess West in the game show segment "Wild Guess."
Moreno's career includes notable achievements such as two Emmy Awards, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, making her one of the few people to achieve EGOT status. She is also known for her appearances in other children's programs, such as The Magic School Bus and Disney's Elena of Avalor. Additionally, she voiced the international thief Carmen Sandiego in the '90s series Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?.
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Millie's catchphrase was Hey, you guys
Rita Moreno is an accomplished actress with an iconic 70-year career that includes two Emmy Awards, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, making her one of 27 people to achieve EGOT status. Moreno is often recognized in public for her role in the 1970s show "The Electric Company." On the show, Moreno played Millie the Helper, a character known for the catchphrase, "Hey, you guys!"
Millie the Helper was a recurring character on "The Electric Company," an educational program aimed at helping elementary school students develop their reading and grammar skills. Moreno's character's catchphrase became so popular that it was later incorporated into the opening credits of the show. "Hey, you guys!" could be heard in schoolyards across the country, and even today, Moreno is sometimes greeted in public with the famous phrase.
In an interview, Moreno recalled her time on "The Electric Company" fondly, saying, "We were a bunch of immensely talented people who put their careers aside, in a way, to help young children learn how to read." She also noted that the show reached a wider audience than just children, as many adults who couldn't read English also tuned in.
While "Hey, you guys!" is undoubtedly Millie the Helper's most famous catchphrase, the character had many other memorable lines on "The Electric Company." For example, Millie once said, "I don't think this belonged to any of us. It would be a shame if anyone found out you guys were behind a giant monster fish in the human world."
In addition to her work on "The Electric Company," Rita Moreno has also made guest appearances on other children's programs, such as "The Magic School Bus" and Disney's "Elena of Avalor." She also voiced international thief Carmen Sandiego in the '90s series "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?"
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Rita Moreno won a Grammy for the show's soundtrack
Rita Moreno is an actress, singer, and dancer with a career spanning eight decades. She is one of the few actors to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT), achieving what is known as the Triple Crown of Acting.
In 1972, Rita Moreno won a Grammy Award for Best Children's Album for the cast recording of the soundtrack of the PBS children's television series "The Electric Company." The album was called "The Electric Company Album." The show aired from 1971 to 1977 and was produced by the Children's Television Workshop, the makers of "Sesame Street." It was designed to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills through sketch comedy and other devices.
Moreno was a main cast member on "The Electric Company" and played several recurring characters, including Millie the Helper, who shouted the show's iconic catchphrase, "Hey, you guys!" which was later incorporated into the opening credits. Millie's famous yell was heard in schoolyards across the country. Moreno's other characters included Otto the Director, a short-tempered film director, and Pandora the Brat, a bratty but lovable blonde girl.
Moreno's work on "The Electric Company" contributed to her EGOT status, with the Grammy being the second award in her collection. She is the first Latina woman to achieve EGOT status.
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The Electric Company was an educational children's show
The Electric Company was an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), now known as Sesame Workshop. It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The series aired on PBS for 780 episodes over six seasons, from 25 October 1971 to 15 April 1977. Reruns continued until 4 October 1985.
The show was intended for children who had outgrown CTW's flagship program, Sesame Street, and therefore featured more mature humour. The Electric Company aimed to teach elementary school children reading and grammar skills through the use of sketch comedy, animated shorts, and various other devices. Each episode ended with a disclaimer read aloud by one of the cast members, stating, "The Electric Company gets its power from the Children's Television Workshop."
The show's cast included Academy Award winner Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Judy Graubart, Lee Chamberlin, and Skip Hinnant. Moreno played the character Millie the Helper, whose catchphrase, "Hey, you guys!" became iconic and was later incorporated into the opening credits. The original soundtrack album, featuring songs by Tom Lehrer and Joe Raposo, won a Grammy Award for the show's cast.
The Electric Company was considered a success, with a 1977 report by the Educational Testing Service concluding that the program had a "clear and significant impact" on its target audience of second-grade children who were struggling with reading.
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Rita Moreno also played Pandora the Brat
Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican-born American actress, dancer, and singer. Her career, spanning over seven decades, includes notable acting work in film, television, and theatre. She is one of the few actors to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT) and the Triple Crown of Acting.
Rita Moreno played Pandora the Brat, a bratty-but-lovable blonde girl who tried to outwit the adults around her, on the American educational children's television series The Electric Company. The show, which aired from 1971 to 1977, employed sketch comedy and various other devices to provide an entertaining program to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills.
Moreno's other roles on The Electric Company included Millie the Helper, who became known for the show's iconic catchphrase, "Hey, you guys!"; and Otto the Director, a short-tempered film director.
In addition to her work on The Electric Company, Rita Moreno has had a diverse and acclaimed career. She began her career in the Golden Age of Hollywood, appearing in classic musical films such as Singin' in the Rain (1952), The King and I (1956), and West Side Story (1961), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first Hispanic woman to win an Academy Award. She has also appeared in numerous other films, such as Popi (1969), Carnal Knowledge (1971), and Slums of Beverly Hills (1998).
Furthermore, Rita Moreno has lent her voice to several animated characters, including the titular role of Carmen Sandiego in Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? (1994-1999). She has also made guest appearances in children's programs such as The Magic School Bus and Disney's Elena of Avalor.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Rita Moreno was on The Electric Company.
Rita Moreno starred in The Electric Company in 1971.
Rita Moreno played Millie the Helper, Otto the Director, and Pandora the Brat on The Electric Company. Millie the Helper's catchphrase, "Hey, you guys!", was so popular that it was incorporated into the show's opening credits.
The Electric Company is an American educational children's television series that aired on PBS from 1971 to 1977. The show employed sketch comedy to help elementary school students develop their reading and grammar skills.
