Sesame Street puppeteer dies

Caroll Spinney, who voiced and operated the Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for nearly 50 years, died Sunday at his home in Connecticut. He was 85. Spinney had suffered from dystonia, which causes involuntary muscle contractions, for years, according to a statement released by Sesame Workshop.

Who was Spinney? He was the life behind Big Bird and Oscar from their beginnings in 1969, when he was hired at age 36. He switched to just doing the voices in 2015 and retired completely last year. He first began puppeteering at age 8, when his mother bought him a puppet theater. The same day he died, Sesame Street received a lifetime achievement in the arts award from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Dig deeper: Read this New York Times interview with Spinney from 2018.