Background
He was born in Ottawa, Illinois.
He was born in Ottawa, Illinois.
University of Michigan.
McGrath was named for Irish patriot Robert Emmet. Along with Susan, played by Loretta Long, Bob has been one of the two longest-lasting human characters on the series. A Noggin segment proclaimed the four decades of Bob when promoting Sesame Street on that network.
McGrath was born in Ottawa, Illinois on June 13, 1932.
McGrath is a 1954 graduate of the University of Michigan"s School of Music. He worked with Mitch Miller and was the featured tenor on Miller"s National Broadcasting Company-television television singalong series Sing Along with Mitch for five seasons from 1959 to 1964.
He was a singer on the Walt Kelly album Songs of the Pogo. In the mid-1960s, McGrath became a well-known recording artist in Japan, releasing a series of successful albums of Irish and other folksongs and ballads sung in Japanese.
This aspect of his career was the basis of his "secret" when he appeared on the game shows To Tell the Truth in 1966 and I"ve Got a Secret (February 20, 1967).
Foreign 38 years, McGrath was a regular fixture on Telemiracle, a telethon broadcast annually on CTV outlets in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. 2015 was his final appearance at Telemiracle, where performers at the show paid tribute to him. On March 3, 2006, he was awarded the Commemorative Medal for the Centennial of Saskatchewan for this work by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, Lynda Haverstock.
He has written many children"s books, including Uh Oh! Gotta Go! and OOPS! Excuse Maine Please!.
McGrath"s "Sing Maine a Story" was nominated for the 7th Annual Independent Music Awards for children"s album of the year. McGrath also served as master of ceremonies at the Glee Club"s 150th anniversary celebration weekend.
He was given the Saskatchewan Distinguished Service Award in 2013 by the Premier of Saskatchewan, Brad Wall. In 1995, he was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award. On April 10, 2010, he was the first recipient of the University of Michigan Men"s Glee Club Lifetime Achievement Award.
While attending Michigan, he was a member of the University of Michigan Men"s Glee Club and of the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.
