Three-time Emmy Award-winning writer and dramatist Ray Sipherd died at his home in Newtown, on April 23, 2020. He was 84. The cause of death was complications from congestive heart failure.

Raymond Duke Sipherd was born August 27, 1935, in Uniontown, Penn. After graduating from Valley Stream High School in Long Island, N.Y., he went to Yale University, Berkeley College, and graduated magna cum laude with a BA in English in 1957.

Sipherd began his theatrical career at the age of 13, when he formed the Surrey Players, a touring marionette troupe that performed at children’s parties and libraries. In high school he wrote the book and lyrics of an original musical called Holiday Hotel. At Yale he coauthored the book and lyrics of a musical adaptation of The Madwoman of Chaillot.

After college he joined CBS Television as a story editor and producer for a number of dramatic specials. In the 1960s he was a writer-producer for WNET public television in New York City, where he created more than 30 programs, including the award-winning documentary Years Without Harvest.

In 1969 he became one of the four original writers of the new and innovative children’s series, Sesame Street, and remained a key contributor for 17 years. He wrote several books for the franchise, including the bestseller Down on the Farm with Grover. Many of his sketches and songs are still performed for children around the world.

During that time he managed a career as a book editor for Reader’s Digest, where he also headed up the company’s television division, creating, among other shows, an adaptation of James A. Mitchner’s Centennial.

His fiction credits include the novel The Courtship of Peggy McCoy and a collection of short stories, The Christmas Store, which he later adapted for the stage. He also authored the Jonathan Wilder mystery series that featured the titles Dance of the Scarecrows, The Devil’s Hawk and The Audubon Quartet.

Sipherd retired from Reader’s Digest after 25 years and returned to his first love — writing for the stage. He wrote the book and lyrics for a musical adaptation of Leonid Andreyev’s He Who Gets Slapped, which had its world premiere in Cambridge, N.Y., with the Theater Company of Hubbard Hall under the direction of Kevin McGuire. His dramas enjoyed staged readings, including Matthew Brady Presents at The Irish Repertory Theatre, The Rescue Station at New Dramatists and Players at the Actors Studio, all in New York City. There will also be a reading of his latest play, Rob, sometime next year.

“Ray was in the true sense of the term a gentleman and a scholar,” actor/director Kevin McGuire said in an e-mail statement. “Working with Ray on his critically acclaimed musical adaptation of He Who Gets Slapped and a reading of his play, Players, was a joy and inspiration.”

Sipherd received three Emmy Awards for his work and served on the advisory panel for film and television for the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, DC. He was on the board of the Yale Dramatic Association, wrote articles for CNBC.com and was a contributing playwright to the Brookfield Theater of the Arts.

He is survived by his wife of 33 years, artist and designer Anne Marie Foran; and by his brother and sister-in-law, Ronald K. Sipherd and Joan Sipherd of Oakland, Calif.

A memorial service will be planned for a later date.