Roosevelt Franklin
Roosevelt Franklin was a fictional character featured in Sesame Street during the early 1970s. As he is purple with shaggy black hair that stands on end, (but possesses no ears or nose), his "ethnicity" is somewhat of a mystery, but his speech has led most to conclude that he is African American, and his persistent misbehavior in class led many to believe he was a negative cultural stereotype, ultimately leading to his removal from the show.
He was voiced by Sesame Street cast member Matt Robinson, who also played Gordon at the time. Franklin is featured on a Sesame Street record album, My Name Is Roosevelt Franklin from 1971. Curiously, the school which he attends seems to be named after him, a monumental achievement for a young boy, or perhaps named after one of his ancestors. In one episode, his mother made an appearance to pick him up from school.
Franklin often speaks in rhyme or scat style and he is fond of misbehaving and making mischief in school, though he also appears to be highly creative and intelligent beyond the classroom material presented to him. While most of the Muppet students in his class are unruly and throwing paper about, Franklin tends to use his wit and hyperactive creativity to antagonize his teacher. In one sketch, Franklin is asked to draw a rectangle on the television screen. He quickly sketches one and adds three circles inside of it to create a traffic light. Sensing that his teacher can't keep up with him, he has his drawing strobe psychedelic colors and then proceeds to draw doodles and graffiti around it.
Unfortunately for fans who would like to see more of him, he was considered to be a negative cultural stereotype (probably because he was seen mostly in detention after school), and he was canned from the show. Some also believe that this character was an unintentionally negative portrayal of African-Americans' voice and appearance. Ironically, almost all the lyrics on the My Name Is Roosevelt Franklin album were extremely positive, with some emphasizing Roosevelt's intelligence and confidence, others focusing on issues of racial, cultural, and economic cooperation.
Recently, he has been parodied on the cult American television show Arrested Development with a puppet character named Franklin Delano.