SESAME STREET's Original Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, Caroll Spinney, Has Died at Age 85

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that SESAME STREET puppeteer Caroll Spinney has died at age 85. Spinney was the puppeteer behind characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. He died at his home in Connecticut, after a battle with Dystonia, according to SesameWorkshop.org.

Spinney helped shape and define SESAME STREET from its earliest days in 1969 through five decades. He was welcomed to SESAME STREET by Jim Henson himself, which led to a decades-long great friendship.

"His legacy here at Sesame Workshop and in the cultural firmament will be unending," the statement reads.

Spinney's Big Bird visited China with Bob Hope, danced with the Rockettes, was celebrated with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a U.S. postage stamp, and named a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress.

Spinney also conducted symphony orchestras and performing with them across the United States, Australia, and China.

Sesame Street co-founder Joan Ganz Cooney said of her longtime colleague and friend, "Caroll Spinney's contributions to SESAME STREET are countless. He not only gave us Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, he gave so much of himself as well. We at Sesame Workshop mourn his passing and feel an immense gratitude for all he has given to SESAME STREET and to children around the world."

Read more on SesameWorkshop.org.