I remember when Will Lee ( Mr. Hooper ) died back in 1984, his death was actually written in the show but there was another death associated with Sesame Street.
Northern Calloway
He played the role of David ( I think he was the one who took over Mr. Hooper's store ).
IMDB says Northern made only seven appearances on Sesame Street but I think he made a lot more than that. He died in 1990 at the age of 41.
But here is where it gets interesting. IMDB says he died of stomach cancer. While wikipedia says he suffered from drug addiciton and bi polar and went into diabetic shock just before he died. Nothing there was mentioned about him having stomach cancer. However they do mention
he was sent to a psychiatric facility just before his death.
I remember when Northern died hearing the story about how he ran into a field naked eating grass. My sister caims she heard another story about him eating something else when he was naked in the field ( think GG Allin and you may get the idea ), wonder if this stuff is true?
Either way I can see why Sesame Street didn't mention his death on the show, unlike Mr. Hooper's.