Caroll Spinney the puppeteer, also voice behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, leaves Sesame Street after 50 years
Caroll Spinney has announced his retirement from the world famous children’s program Sesame Street. He was the voice behind the world famous puppets of Big Bird and Oscar. He has been associated with the show for more than 50 years. Sesame Street is the world’s longest running children program.
There would be hardly anyone growing in the age of television who have not liked the Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Spinney has been associated with the show since 1969. He has played the parts of the yellow feathered, gentle, inquisitive Big Bird and the lovably irritated Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit education organization that produces Sesame Street, do not have an exact figure for the number of episodes Spinney has appeared in. But according to its spokeswomen the number is likely to be in thousands. As, more than 4,400 episodes have been created.
In a recent interview Caroll Spinney told, “I always thought, how fortunate for me that I got to play the two best Muppets. Playing Big Bird is one of the most joyous things of my life”.
At the age of 84 the physical requirements of performing the characters has become a hindrance for him, as he has developed problems with his balance. As being reported, Caroll Spinney stopped doing the puppeteering for Big Bird in 2015 and has since been providing only the voices for him and Oscar.
After retiring from the programme, his roles will be passed on to new performers. And his remarkable half-century run, in which he has personified two of the most beloved characters on television, comes to an end.
