16 Facts About David Smyrl

David Langston Smyrl, sometimes credited professionally as David L Smyrl, was an American actor and television writer.

David Smyrl was best known for his role of Mr Handford, the fictional retired firefighter who ran Hooper's Store on Sesame Street from 1990 to 1998.

David Smyrl was born on September 13,1935, in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was raised in the neighborhood.

David Smyrl began his career as a coffeehouse poet in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, during the 1960s.

David Smyrl was hired for his television acting job on a short-lived show, Express Yourself, during the 1970s.

David Smyrl next moved to California, where he was hired as a writer for the ABC television sitcom, Benson, for which he won a People's Choice Award.

David Smyrl then joined The Cosby Show, both as a gag writer and actor, playing a general contractor named Sam Lucas for a five-episode recurring role.

David Smyrl was best known for his role on the PBS children's show, Sesame Street.

Northern Calloway, who played David Smyrl, then took over the store, but he left the show in 1989 with psychiatric issues, and later died the following year.

In 1990, David Smyrl was hired by Sesame Street as Mr Hanford, the owner of Hooper's Store.

David Smyrl replaced Leonard Jackson, who had played a grumpier version of Mr Hanford during the preceding Season 21.

David Smyrl starred as Jesse B Simple in a documentary on the life of Langston Hughes called The Dream Keeper.

David Smyrl had lived in Connecticut before moving back to Philadelphia with his wife in 2004.

David Smyrl worked as a volunteer performer at regional colleges, schools and prisons.

David Smyrl died from lung cancer at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, on March 22,2016, at the age of 80.

David Smyrl was buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd on March 28,2016.