Caroll Spinney(1933-2019)

Actor
Additional Crew
Writer

Caroll Spinney at an event for The 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2006)

Trailer for I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story

Play trailer1:41

I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (2014)

Caroll Spinney was born on 26 December 1933 in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Sesame Street (1969), The Muppet Movie (1979) and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009). He was married to Debra Spinney and Janice Spinney. He died on 8 December 2019 in Woodstock, Connecticut, USA.

IMDbProStarmeter See rank

Awards
- 11 wins & 8 nominations total

Photos72

+ 66

Known for

Sesame Street

8.1

TV Series

Actor

Orson Welles, Steve Martin, Mel Brooks, James Coburn, Frank Oz, Milton Berle, Dom DeLuise, Elliott Gould, Jim Henson, Bob Hope, Madeline Kahn, Carol Kane, Cloris Leachman, Richard Pryor, Telly Savalas, Edgar Bergen, and Paul Williams in The Muppet Movie (1979)

The Muppet Movie

7.6

Big Bird(voice, as Carroll Spinney)

1979

Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Ben Stiller, Brad Garrett, Owen Wilson, Amy Adams, Alain Chabat, Steve Coogan, Patrick Gallagher, Bill Hader, Mizuo Peck, Jon Bernthal, and Crystal the Monkey in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

6.0

Oscar the Grouch(voice)

2009

The Great Muppet Caper

7.1

Oscar the Grouch(voice)

1981

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

Sesame Street
8.1
TV Series
- Big Bird
- Oscar the Grouch
- Oscar ...
- 1969–2023
Sesame Street: 50 Years and Counting
8.2
Video
- Big Bird
- 2019
Sesame Street: Awesome Alphabet Collection
Video
- Oscar (voice)
- 2019
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
7.1
TV Series
- Oscar the Grouch (as Oscar the Grouch)
- 2019
Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas
6.6
TV Movie
- Big Bird
- Oscar the Grouch (voice)
- 2016
Super Bowl 50: Dream on Remix
TV Short
- Big Bird (voice)
- 2016
Elmo's World: Elmo Wonders
3.0
- Oscar the Grouch
- Big Bird
- 2016
Saturday Night Live
8.0
TV Series
- Big Bird (voice, uncredited)
- 2012–2015
Supernatural
8.4
TV Series
- Big Bird (uncredited)
- 2015
Portlandia
7.8
TV Series
- Oscar the Grouch (voice)
- 2015
The Furchester Hotel
7.4
TV Series
- Cookie Monster (voice)
- 2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
7.0
TV Series
- Oscar the Grouch
- Big Bird (uncredited)
- 2014
Sesame Street: Alphabet Songs
8.4
Video
- Big Bird
- Oscar the Grouch
- 2014
Sesame Street: Elmo's World - All About Animals
- Big Bird
- Oscar
- 2014
Sunny Side Up
8.6
TV Series
- Oscar the Grouch (voice)
- 2008–2014

Puppetry

Writer

Videos53

Clip 1:00

Sesame Street: Vol. One

New Season Airs Jan. 16

Trailer 1:40

Imagine That!

Personal details

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Official site
- Official Site
Alternative names
- Big Bird
Height
- 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
Born
- December 26, 1933
- Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
Died
- December 8, 2019
- Woodstock, Connecticut, USA(long illness)
Spouses
Children
- Child
Other works
He voiced Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for the audio version of Liza Alexander's book "Big Bird Meets the Orchestra" in the "Sesame Street: Learn About Music" series.
Publicity listings
- 1 Biographical Movie
- 7 Articles

Did you know

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Trivia
He made an appearance as Big Bird on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968). Before the show was taped, Fred Rogers wanted to have him remove the Big Bird outfit on the show and discuss the inner workings of it. Spinney objected to this idea, saying that it was important to preserve the sense of wonder and magic that children have about Big Bird. Rogers agreed that Spinney was right, and, instead, Big Bird appeared on the show in a Neighborhood of Make-Believe segment.

Quotes
[on his lifelong love of performing puppetry] Somehow I was shy enough to not care about being seen. And I figured if could ever get on a TV show with a character that I enjoyed doing, it might even get famous. And voila!