Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch puppeteer Caroll Spinney dies

The Associated Press

6 years ago

Big Bird arrives at the Daytime Emmy Awards on in this Aug. 30, 2009 file photo, in Los Angeles ... — Big Bird arrives at the Daytime Emmy Awards on in this Aug. 30, 2009 file photo, in Los Angeles. (AP file)

In a May 21, 2000 file photo, Carroll Spinney, center, best known for his TV character Big Bird from Sesame Street, receives an honorary doctor of Humane Letters degree from Eastern Connecticut State University President David G. Carter, right, during commencement in Willimantic, Conn. Spinney, who gave Big Bird his warmth and Oscar the Grouch his growl for nearly 50 years on “Sesame Street,” died Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019 at his home in Connecticut, according to the Sesame Workshop. He was 85. (AP Photo/Steve Miller, File)

2019 Kennedy Center Honorees, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird, and Elmo, characters from "Sesame Street," pose for a photo following the Kennedy Center Honors State Department Dinner at the State Department on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

HARTFORD, Conn. — Caroll Spinney, who gave Big Bird his warmth and Oscar the Grouch his growl for nearly 50 years on “Sesame Street,” died Sunday at the age of 85 at his home in Connecticut, according to the Sesame Workshop.

The Sesame Workshop said in a statement that the legendary puppeteer lived for some time with dystonia, which causes involuntary muscle contractions.

Spinney voiced and operated the two major Muppets from their inception in 1969 when he was 36, and performed them almost exclusively into his 80s on the PBS kids’ television show that later moved to HBO.

“Before I came to ‘Sesame Street,’ I didn’t feel like what I was doing was very important,” Spinney said when he announced his retirement in 2018. “Big Bird helped me find my purpose.”

Through his two characters, Spinney gained huge fame that brought international tours, books, record albums, movie roles, and visits to the White House.

“Caroll was an artistic genius whose kind and loving view of the world helped shape and define Sesame Street from its earliest days in 1969 through five decades, and his legacy here at Sesame Workshop and in the cultural firmament will be unending,” the Sesame Workshop said