Puppeteer embodied childlike charm
Spinney played Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird on groundbreaking TV series
Puppeteer Caroll Spinney brought childlike vulnerability to the towering yellow-plumed canary Big Bird and even made garbage-loving Oscar the Grouch lovable.
They were part of the groundbreaking children’s TV show Sesame Street when it made its debut in 1969 with the goal of entertaining and educating young children, especially in low-income families.
Spinney, who died Sunday at age 85, suffered from the movement disorder dystonia and had provided only Big Bird’s voice since 2015 while another puppeteer was in the costume. Spinney announced his retirement at age 84 in October 2018 after completing episodes to mark the show’s 50th year in 2019.
“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,” the show’s co-founder Joan Ganz Cooney said Sunday.
With Spinney inside, Big Bird danced with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, sang at Carnegie Hall, passed out Emmys, appeared on the cover of Time magazine and toured China with Bob Hope. He performed with everyone from Johnny Cash to Michael Jackson.
Spinney as Big Bird is portrayed in the 2015 documentary I Am Big Bird. It even covers some of his darker moments, including suicidal thoughts after his first wife left him and took their kids, and the jealousy he felt when the character Elmo became more popular than Big Bird.
The beloved Big Bird was a fluffy pear-shaped mass of yellow-dyed turkey feathers set atop spindly legs and standing more than 2.4 metres tall. At first he was a dim-witted goof but Spinney developed him into a character children could relate to — an excitable naïf with the sensibilities of a six-year-old who was learning letters and numbers just like the young viewers who adored him.
“Through Big Bird I’ve learned things that have changed my life, lessons that have stayed with me even when I’m not in the puppet,” Spinney says in his book, The Wisdom of Big Bird (and Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch). “I’m certain that being a bird has made me a better person.”
Spinney was close to Jim Henson, the man behind Sesame Street and the Muppets troupe, and he wore the full Big Bird costume when he sang the Muppet anthem Bein’ Green at Henson’s funeral in 1990.
Big Bird and death also were part of one of most memorable moments on Sesame Street. Actor Will Lee, who played storekeeper Mr. Hooper, died in 1982, and it turned into a lesson for children as the show’s cast gathered to explain the loss of the friend who had made Big Bird birdseed milkshakes. “When we finished there were tears on all the actors’ faces,” Spinney said later. “When I came out of the suit, I had to have a towel because I had been crying.”
Born Dec. 26, 1933, Spinney grew up in Acton, Mass., and developed his interest in puppets as a child. He said he never had a desire to be seen by the audience.