December 26, 1933 – December 8, 2019
News came over the weekend that Caroll Spinney, who played Big Bird and Oscar The Grouch from Sesame Street‘s debut until he retired in 2018 (new Muppeteers have taken over the roles, but if memory serves not all his episodes have aired yet), had passed away, only a few weeks before his birthday. In addition to his roles on the show he was also an artist and drew the picture of the late Mr. Hooper (who actually died when his portrayer, Will Lee, died in a rare moment for a kids show and a great Big Bird performance from Spinney) in Big Bird’s nest. I’m one of those kids who grew up on Sesame Street and it was sad to news, but at least he got to enjoy his retirement a bit and was one of the few remaining performers as the show’s format changed and many of the other neighbors I grew up with had left the show since I stopped watching. Childhood me thanks you for what you brought to it, and I’m not the only one thinking that.
I had to end on the three together.
