Caroll Spinney, Puppeteer Behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, Dies at 85

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/caroll-spinney-dead-dies-sesame-street-big-bird-oscar-the-grouch-1203428981/

Spinney was with “Sesame Street” from the beginning in 1969, and continued working as Big Bird and Oscar through 2018, though he stopped performing inside the Big Bird costume in 2015 when it became too physically demanding. He first met Jim Henson in 1962 at a puppeteering festival, but the idea of working for him did not come about until they reconnected at another festival in 1969. As Big Bird and Oscar, he conducted several orchestras, including the Boston Pops, across the United States, China, and Australia.

His work on “Sesame Street” earned Spinney five Daytime Emmy awards, beginning in 1974 with individual achievement in children’s programming for “Sesame Street.” His most recent win was in 2007 for performer in a children’s series for Oscar the Grouch. He was also nominated for a Grammy award for the album “Merry Christmas from Sesame Street” in 1976. In 2006, Spinney was awared the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Lifetime Achievement Award.