--- title: Big Bird Puppeteer Caroll Spinney Retires From Sesame Street description: Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer behind iconic Sesame Street muppets Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, is stepping down after nearly 50 years. canonical: https://time.com/5426960/caroll-spinney/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-17T14:54:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:30.788Z og:title: Legendary Big Bird Puppeteer Retiring From Sesame Street og:description: "Big Bird helped me find my purpose" og:url: https://time.com/5426960/caroll-spinney/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt976b2115d0852d8d/69893cc1fb4eac0bea897f02/sesame-street-caroll-spinney.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Sesame-Street-Caroll-Spinney og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Legendary Big Bird Puppeteer Retiring From Sesame Street twitter:description: "Big Bird helped me find my purpose" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt976b2115d0852d8d/69893cc1fb4eac0bea897f02/sesame-street-caroll-spinney.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Legendary Big Bird Puppeteer Is Flying Away From _Sesame Street_ After Nearly 50 Years > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 17, 2018 2:54 PM UTC  Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who brings to life characters such as Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird, entertains children at a promotion for 'Sesame Street: A Celebration Of 40 Years Of Life On The Street' at Barnes & Noble, Lincoln Triangle on November 12, 2009 in New York City. Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who brings to life characters such as Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird, entertains children at a promotion for 'Sesame Street: A Celebration Of 40 Years Of Life On The Street' at Barnes & Noble, Lincoln Triangle on November 12, 2009 in New York City. Andy Kropa/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 17, 2018 2:54 PM UTC [Caroll Spinney](http://time.com/3848558/sesame-street-big-bird-caroll-spinney/), the original puppeteer behind iconic [_Sesame Street_](http://time.com/5399940/sesame-street-bert-ernie-gay/) muppets [Big Bird](http://time.com/4848929/sesame-street-beastie-boys-sabotage-mashup/) and Oscar the Grouch, is stepping down after nearly 50 years. Spinney, who has played both Big Bird and Oscar since the show’s 1969 premiere, announced his retirement in a [statement](http://www.sesameworkshop.org/press-releases/puppeteer-caroll-spinney-announces-retirement-from-sesame-street/) that _Sesame Street_ shared on Twitter on Wednesday. “Before I came to _Sesame Street_, I didn’t feel like what I was doing was very important,” the 84-year-old said. “Big Bird helped me find my purpose. 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 created a lifetime of memories that I will cherish forever. Spinney also shared that he personally selected his replacements for the two roles, _Sesame Street_ Puppet Captain Matt Vogel—who took over Kermit the Frog from [puppeteer Steve Whitmire](http://time.com/4855481/kermit-actor-on-leaving-muppets/)—and veteran puppeteer Eric Jacobson—who already voices Grover, Bert, and Guy Smiley on _Sesame Street_ and Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear from the _Muppets_. “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,” he said. > [](https://twitter.com/sesamestreet/status/1052545714323107840) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5426960/caroll-spinney/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5426960/caroll-spinney/"},"headline":"The Legendary Big Bird Puppeteer Is Flying Away From Sesame Street After Nearly 50 Years","datePublished":"2018-10-17T14:54:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:30.788Z","description":"\"Big Bird helped me find my purpose\"","url":"https://time.com/5426960/caroll-spinney/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Sesame Street","TV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt976b2115d0852d8d/69893cc1fb4eac0bea897f02/sesame-street-caroll-spinney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt976b2115d0852d8d/69893cc1fb4eac0bea897f02/sesame-street-caroll-spinney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sesame-Street-Caroll-Spinney","caption":"Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who brings to life characters such as Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird, entertains children at a promotion for 'Sesame Street: A Celebration Of 40 Years Of Life On The Street'","creditText":"Andy Kropa/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5426960/caroll-spinney/","name":"The Legendary Big Bird Puppeteer Is Flying Away From Sesame Street After Nearly 50 Years"}}]}] ```