R.I.P.: Caroll Spinney (Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch)

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From Variety.com ...


Caroll Spinney, Puppeteer Behind Big Bird
and Oscar the Grouch, Dies at 85
-----------------------------------------
Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who played Big Bird and Oscar the
Grouch for 49 years at "Sesame Street," died in Connecticut
after living with dystonia. He was 85.

Sesame Workshop announced his death, calling him an "artistic
genius" whose "legacy here at Sesame Workshop and in the
cultural firmament will be unending."

"His enormous talent and outsized heart were perfectly suited
to playing the larger-than-life yellow bird who brought joy to
generations of children and countless fans of all ages around
the world," the announcement continued, "and his lovably
cantankerous grouch gave us all permission to be cranky once
in a while."

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.

Before joining "Sesame Street," Spinney worked at "Bozo's Big
Top" in Boston following his service in the Air Force, which
he joined at 19. He portrayed several characters including
Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo and Mr. Lion, though he eventually
left the show, winding up in Salt Lake City, performing at the
fateful festival where he met Henson.

Spinney appeared in "The Muppet Movie," "The Great Muppet
Caper," "Big Bird in China," and "Follow that Bird." He also
appeared in 2009's "Night at the Museum: Battle for the
Smithsonian" as Oscar the Grouch. Documentarians Dave
LaMattina and Chad N. Walker created a film about Spinney,
"I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story," in 2014.

"He managed to learn to speak directly to the hearts of
probably anything from 2-year-olds to 5-, 6-, 7-year-olds -
and to grown-ups, as a matter of fact," "Sesame Street"
performer Bob McGrath said in the doc. "It was most apparent
to us the first time we got out and really performed for kids.
Anytime you mentioned Big Bird, the place erupted. It was like
a mini Woodstock."

"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."

Spinney is survived by his second wife, Debra, along with
children and grandchildren from his first marriage.


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