Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer behind Sesame Street characters like Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, has died at the age of 85.
The news was confirmed on the official Sesame Street Twitter account today (Sunday), where it confirmed that Spinney had passed away at his Connecticut home.
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The puppeteer first met Sesame Street creator Jim Henson at a puppetry festival in 1962. When Henson first created the Muppets for the show he decided to invite Spinney to get involved - ever since then he was the man behind Big Bird all the way until his retirement last year.
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."
A touching statement released by Sesame Street talked of his true talent as an entertainer.
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It read: "Caroll was an artistic genius whose kind and loving view of the world helped shape and define Sesame Street from its earliest days in 1969 through five decades, and his 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, and his lovably cantankerous grouch gave us all permission to be cranky once in a while."
Featured Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/PA
