'Sesame Street' star Sonia Manzano aka Maria has announced that she will be retiring from the hit kids' show after devoting almost 44 years of her life to it.
The news of the 65-year-old American actress not returning to the next season of the PBS American series has left the fans devastated, who took to social media to pay tribute to her, the BBC reported.
The actress later took to Twitter and wrote that she could return for the show's 50th anniversary.
Manzano had joined the show back in 1971, and became a regular in 1974 by giving advice to characters like Big Bird and Elmo, and working as a writer.
Manzano had won 15 Emmy Awards for her spectacular work.
