Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who brought boyish vulnerability to Big Bird, the towering yellow-plumed character, during 50 years on the groundbreaking children's television show "Sesame Street" and even made garbage-loving Oscar the Grouch lovable, died on Sunday at the age of 85, the Sesame Workshop said.
Spinney, who suffered from the movement disorder dystonia, had provided only Big Bird's voice since 2015 while another puppeteer was in the costume.
"We at Sesame Workshop mourn his passing and feel an immense gratitude for all he has given to Sesame Street and to children around the world," the show's co-founder, Joan Ganz Cooney, said in a statement on Sunday.
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