Caroll Spinney dead at 85 – Sesame Street puppeteer who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch passes away
THE Sesame Street puppeteer who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch has died aged 85.
Caroll Spinney passed away at his home in Connecticut, US.
The TV legend, who starred in the show for X years, had battled dystonia, which causes involuntary musicle contractions
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.”
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Through his two characters, Spinney gained huge fame that brought international tours, books, record albums, movie roles, and visits to the White House.
The Seasme Workshop said: “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.”
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Caroll Spinney’s first name. It is Caroll, not Carroll.
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