Alan Muraoka
Alan Muraoka (born August 10, 1962) is a Japanese American actor and theatre director who plays Alan, the current owner of Hooper's Store, on the television show Sesame Street. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, an LGBTQIA safe-space, community activist center, and educational bridge dedicated to honoring Bayard Rustin through their mission and good works.
Sesame Street[edit]
Muraoka is best know for his role as Alan on Sesame Street. Alan is the owner of Hooper's Store on Sesame Street. Alan took over the reins from Mr. Handford in Episode 3786 and soon became particularly close friends with Baby Bear and Telly Monster. Alan later hired Gabi and Miles as his assistants. Alan's current assistant is Chris Robinson (the nephew of Gordon and Susan).
In Alan's first appearance on the show, Big Bird holds a Birdketeer meeting in the arbor, and the new owner of Hooper's finds himself as an overworked caterer for the meeting. As the day goes on, Alan is tempted to ask them to take their meeting somewhere else, but the Birdketeers then give Alan a big welcome to the Street. They praise him for his help in providing snacks and other things to eat for the meeting, thus marking the beginning of yet another beautiful relationship with the residents of Sesame Street.
In 2021, Muraoka co-directed the June 17th Sesame Street episode "Family Day." The episode, which focused on the diverse families of the different characters on the show, introduced the first family to include two gay dads, the characters "Nina's Brother Dave, his husband Frank, and their daughter Mia."