Caroll Spinney
Caroll Edwin Spinney (December 26, 1933 – December 8, 2019) was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author, artist and speaker, most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street from its inception in 1969 until 2018.
Caroll Spinney
December 8, 2019 (aged 85)
Ed Spinney
- Puppeteer
- cartoonist
- author
- artist
- speaker
1955–2018
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Janice Spinney(m. 1960; div. 1971)
-
Debra Jean Gilroy(m. 1979)
3
Early life
Spinney was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, on December 26, 1933, to Chester and Margaret Spinney. He had two older brothers Bruce and Glenn. His mother, a native of Bolton, England, named him Caroll despite him being male 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.[1]
After he graduated from Acton High School (subsequently Acton-Boxborough Regional High School) in Acton, Massachusetts, Spinney served in the U.S. Air Force.[2]
Career
Comics and cartoons
While in the Air Force, Spinney wrote and illustrated Harvey, a comic strip about military life.[3] He also animated a series of black-and-white cartoons called Crazy Crayon.[4]
Early puppeteering
In 1955, Spinney relocated to Las Vegas, where he performed in the show Rascal Rabbit.[2] He returned to Boston, joining The Judy and Goggle Show in 1958 as a puppeteer "Goggle" to Judy Valentine's Judy. Throughout the 1960s, he performed on the Boston broadcast of Bozo's Big Top, where he played various costumed characters which included Flip Flop the Rag Doll, Mr. Rabbit, Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo as well as Mr. Lion,[5] who created cartoon drawings from the names of children participating in the show.[6] Through that decade, he was also a commercial artist and animator.
Spinney created a puppet duo consisting of two cats named Picklepuss and Pop, which he utilized throughout the 1960s.[7] Many years later, Spinney's Picklepuss and Pop puppets were characters in Wow, You're a Cartoonist![8]
Personal life and death
Spinney had three children from his first marriage to Janice Spinney, whom he married in 1960.[23][24] Spinney and Janice divorced in 1971.[25] Spinney was married to his second wife, Debra Jean Gilroy, from 1979 until his death.[26] In 2015, Spinney was diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological movement disorder that causes muscle contractions.[27]
On November 8, 2019, Spinney and Big Bird (played by Matt Vogel) participated in a lighting ceremony, where, by mayoral proclamation, the day was named "Caroll Spinney Day" in New York City.[28]
Spinney died at his home in Woodstock, Connecticut, on December 8, 2019, at the age of 85.[29][30] He was surrounded by his wife Debra and three children.
Awards and honors
Spinney was honored with four Daytime Emmy Awards for his portrayals on the series and two Grammy Awards for his related recordings. Two recordings of Spinney's voice earned Gold Record status. For his body of work, Spinney received both a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994 and the Library of Congress' Living Legend award in 2000.[31]
At the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards in 2006, Spinney received the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Lifetime Achievement Award. "I am elated and amazed to receive this honor from those who are committed to the best of what television and media have to offer, for doing what I've always wanted to do."[32]
Spinney is the subject of a full-length documentary by Copper Pot Pictures called I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story that premiered at the April 2014 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.[33]
Spinney was named one of The New Jewish Home's Eight Over Eighty Gala 2016 honorees.[34]