Sonia Manzano

In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Manzano's name and picture. In 2004, she was inducted into the Bronx Hall of Fame. On April 7, 2016, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced that Manzano would receive the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award at the May 1 awards ceremony.

In her junior year, she came to New York to star in the original production of the off-Broadway show Godspell. Manzano joined the production of Sesame Street in 1971, where she eventually began writing scripts for the series. On June 29, 2015, it was announced that Manzano would be retiring from the show after 44 years.

Her children's book No Dogs Allowed, published by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing in 2004, is one of five books selected by the General Mills initiative "Spoonfuls of Stories". As part of that effort, Manzano is working with General Mills and its nonprofit partner, First Book, to encourage children to read and to help children across the United States gain access to books. The book has been adapted as a stage play. She is also the author of The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (2014).

Manzano has received awards from the Association of Hispanic Arts, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, the Hispanic Heritage Award for Education in 2003, and the "Groundbreaking Latina Lifetime Achievement" award from the National Association of Latina Leaders in 2005. She received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree from University of Notre Dame in 2005. As in Ms. Manzano's case, a D.F.A. is typically an honorary degree conferred to someone who has made a significant contribution to society in the arts. The Dream Big Initiative of the Bronx Children's Museum honored Manzano in 2014.

Manzano resides in the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband Richard Reagan, whom she married in 1986, and their daughter Gabriella. Gabriella played the role of the same name on Sesame Street for two seasons (21 and 22) as Luis and Maria's daughter before she decided she did not enjoy acting. Desiree Casado replaced her afterwards.

In the 1970s she was in a relationship with film director and producer Michael Winner.

Sonia Manzano (born June 12, 1950) is an American actress, screenwriter, author, speaker and singer-songwriter. She is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 until her departure in 2015. She is also known for providing the voice-over narration in several animated segments in the English version of the Swedish television show Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter.