Spider-Man's had an impressive legacy in live-action thanks to his many theatrical adventures. However, before the Wall-Crawler enjoyed the ever-warm spotlight provided by red-carpet events, his first live-action appearance was on TV's The Electric Company, portrayed by Danny Seagren from 1974 to 1977. It's recently been revealed (via The Hollywood Reporter), that the actor, who also worked as an accomplished puppeteer, passed away on November 10 at the age of 81.
No cause of death was given. His obituary, published on Dignity Memorial, said the following:
"In his later years, he enjoyed appearing at Comic Cons, meeting the grown 'kids' who adored him! Danny will be greatly missed by his family, friends and those throughout the community he loved living in. A celebration of life will be held at a later date."
Seagren made a name for himself in the industry as a puppeteer. According to THR, he replaced Caroll Spinney as Big Bird for some episodes of Sesame Street. He also played the character in live events, per Variety. The actor enjoyed a successful career on television, earning an Individual Achievement Daytime Emmy award for the 1980 Thanksgiving episode of Miss Peach of the Kelly School, "The Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Day Raffle." He also worked on CBS' Captain Kangaroo (1955-1984) and Who's Afraid of Opera?.
Guy Gilchrist, an artist who, alongside his brother, developed a The Muppets comic strip that ran from 1981 to 1986, posted about Seagren's death on Instagram:
Having carved a path as a puppeteer, the actor's next big step was playing the Wall-Crawler himself, in the first live-action iteration of the character. Per THR, while working for Jim Henson on The Muppets in 1974, a new opportunity arose: PBS' The Electric Company—a spinoff of Sesame Street intended for slightly more mature audiences—was on the hunt for someone to portray Spider-Man on TV.
The story behind his casting is a fascinating one. In 2017, Seagren sat down for an interview with Dan Greenfield, where he revealed what led to him landing the role of Spider-Man:
"I was working at the Muppets at the time. So I knew a lot of the people working at the Children’s Television Workshop, who were making Sesame Street and The Electric Company. I heard they were looking for someone to play Spider-Man. Because I had some good connections, I got myself an audition. But the one person who I didn't know was the producer of The Electric Company, Andrew Ferguson. I went in, met with him, he took me down the hall to the music room and said, 'Put the costume on. I'll be back in a couple of minutes.'"
Seagren put on the costume, and showed off his acrobatics to the producer, who ultimately gave him the job: "I put the costume on and I thought, 'I've got to knock his socks off, somehow.' In the room, there was a filing cabinet and a desk. I climbed on top of the filing cabinet. When he came back into the room, I jumped over his shoulder—but not quite over his head—and landed on the desk in the middle of the room. I don't remember if he screamed but he said, 'Oh my God.' I did a few more moves and he said, 'You got the job.'"
And so, Seagren starred as the Web-Slinger in The Electric Company's skits, Spidey Super Stories, portraying him as a silent character who would communicate through comic-style speech balloons. Though the portrayal is often forgotten among Spider-Man's other live-action ventures, his appearances were popular enough that they prompted a comic book spinoff, "Spidey Super Stories," which ran from 1974 to 1982.
At a time when superheroes were considered foolish, beneath worthwhile entertainment, Seagren always took his job seriously. When asked if he had ever felt silly wearing Spider-Man's costume, the actor said:
"I never felt silly. I was focused on trying to be a superhero. I wasn't a muscle man, but I worked out and had a good body. I had the powerful legs of a dancer. I was trim, and I went to the gym all the time. I think that's why they wanted me. I think, before they cast me, that they saw some muscle men, but they couldn't move. I always took it seriously. I tried to keep it in mind that I was powerful and strong. [...] The situations were silly, but I tried to rise above them. I had to be a little bit campy for the whole thing. I really enjoyed doing it. I always looked forward to the shooting days."
Our condolences go out to his family and friends. Below is an episode of The Electric Company, featuring Seagren as Spider-Man, uploaded by the TheWebOfTheSpider YouTube channel: