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Biography

Caroll Edwin Spinney (December 26, 1933 - December 8, 2019) was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author and speaker most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street since 1969 until 2018. Spinney was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, on December 26, 1933, to Chester and Margaret Spinney. His mother, a native of Bolton, England, named him Caroll because he was born the day after Christmas. He drew and painted from childhood, and developed a love of puppeteering when he saw a performance of "Three Little Kittens" at the age of five. This motivated him to purchase a monkey puppet from a rummage sale three years later and put on a puppet show utilizing the monkey and a plush snake. The following Christmas, his mother gave him a Punch and Judy puppet theater. He continued puppeteering throughout his childhood and adolescence and used his performances to raise money for college tuition. After he graduated from Acton High School (subsequently Acton-Boxborough Regional High School) in Acton, Massachusetts, Spinney served in the US Air Force. Spinney first met Jim Henson in 1962 at a puppeteering festival, where Henson asked if he would like to "talk about the Muppets". As Spinney failed to realize the question was an employment offer, the conversation never came to pass. In 1969, Spinney performed at a Puppeteers of America festival in Utah. His show was a mixture of live actors and puppets but was ruined by an errant spotlight that washed out the animated backgrounds. Henson was once again in attendance and noticed Spinney's performance. "I liked what you were trying to do," Henson said, and he asked once more if they could "talk about the Muppets". This time, they did have the conversation, and Spinney joined the Muppeteers full-time by late 1969. On October 17, 2018, Spinney officially announced his retirement from Sesame Street after 49 years. His last performances as Big Bird and Oscar were recorded as part of the series' landmark 50th season, which aired in 2019, albeit Spinney's final recording session as his characters was ultimately not used in the broadcast version of the episode. The roles of Big Bird and Oscar were handed over to Matt Vogel and Eric Jacobson, respectively. Spinney died at his home in Woodstock, Connecticut on December 8, 2019, two weeks before his 86th birthday. He was surrounded by his wife Debra and three children.