After five decades of playing the inquisitive and lovable Big Bird, as well as the externally disgruntled Oscar the Grouch, puppeteer Caroll Spinney has officially announced his retirement from the beloved children’s program, Sesame Street. 

“Big Bird brought me so many places, opened my mind and nurtured my soul. And I plan to be an ambassador for Sesame Workshop for many years to come. After all, we’re a family! But now it’s time for two performers that I have worked with and respected – and actually hand-picked for the guardianship of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch – to take my alter-egos into their hands and continue to give them life,” Spinney said in a statement. 

Spinney developed a love of love of puppeteering at a young age, after seeing a Three Little Kittens. This passion continued throughout his childhood and adolescence, and was even used to raise money for his college tuition. After briefly relocating to Las Vegas, Spinney performed in the show Rascal Rabbit. He later returned to Boston and worked on The Judy and Goggle Show, performed on the Boston broadcast of Bozo's Big Top, and created the puppet duo of Picklepuss and Pop. 

In 1962, Spinney met fellow puppeteer Jim Henson at a puppeteering festival and the rest, as they say, is history. He joined Sesame Street’s inaugural season in 1969, portraying the larger than life bird and the misanthropic grouch, and has been performing with the show ever since. Brining the characters to life so vibrantly for 50 years, Spinney was instrumental in helping Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch become cultural icons. 

He has even performed as Big Bird and Oscar in Australia, China, Japan, and across Europe. In 1979, the beloved bird visited China with Bob Hope before dancing with the Rockettes and with prima ballerina Cynthia Gregory. Big Bird has also earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a U.S. postage stamp, and was named a “Living Legend” in 2000 by the Library of Congress. Not only did Spinney’s work on Sesame Street make his a seasoned world traveller, but it also introduced him to his wife of 45 years, Debra. 

“Caroll has been one of the leading lights of Sesame Street from the very beginning,” said Joan Ganz Cooney, co-founder of Sesame Workshop. “His genius and his talent made Big Bird the most beloved yellow feathered friend across the globe. But the sheer artistry of Caroll is that he also brought Oscar to life and made him the most lovable Grouch in the world.”

Along with his virtuosic puppeteering, Spinney is also an accomplished author, visual artist, holds four honorary doctorates and received the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award. He has also been awarded six Emmys, two Gold Records, two Grammy honors, the 2003 “Legacy for Children Award,” and The Christopher’s James Keller Award in 2004. His life and career have been documented in his autobiography, The Wisdom of Big Bird, as well as the  widely-acclaimed 2014 film, I Am Big Bird.

Sesame Street announced that Matt Vogel, the show’s puppet captain, will take over the role of Big Bird. While Oscar the Grouch will be played by Eric Jacobson, a puppeteer who also performs Grover, Bert, and Guy Smiley. 

“Before I came to Sesame Street, I didn’t feel like what I was doing was very important. Big Bird helped me find my purpose,” Spinney said. “Even as I step down from my roles, I feel I will always be Big Bird. And even Oscar, once in a while! They have given me great joy, led me to my true calling – and my wonderful wife! – and created a lifetime of memories that I will cherish forever.”