Massachusetts ‘Sesame Street’ Performer Also Appeared on ‘Bozo’

Sesame Street is a mythical, magical place where millions of American pre-schoolers have gathered for decades through television, video, film, books, music and elsewhere. We've met countless wonderful souls on Sesame Street, some real, some fictional but all memorable.

Sesame Street, created for public television by Joan Ganz Cooney, Lloyd Morrisett, Jon Stone and Jim Henson, premiered on November 10, 1969. 

My colleague Phil Devitt recently wrote about Waltham, Massachusetts native Caroll Spinney,  the man behind – and inside – Sesame Street's Big Bird character from 1969 to 2018. Phil had the great fortune to interview Spinney in 2014.

The article is a must-read for anyone who spent time alone or with their children watching Sesame Street on television.

READ MORE: Massachusetts Was Home of Humble "Sesame Street" Legend Behind Big Bird

But there is more and I am here to tell you the rest of the story.

Not only did Spinney immortalize Big Bird, but he was also the voice of Sesame Street fan favorite Oscar the Grouch and was the puppeteer who controlled Oscar's movements. 

How's that for a little Street cred? 

According to his autobiography The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch), during the 1960s, Spinney played several characters on the Boston television version of Bozo's Big Top, which featured the late Frank Avruch as Bozo.

On Bozo, Spinney performed as several costumed characters including Flip Flop the Rag Doll, Mr. Rabbit, Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo and Mr. Lion.

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Spinney also appeared on Boston television on the Judy and Mr. Goggle Show in 1958.

Spinney married twice and had three children. He retired from Sesame Street in 2018  and died a year later in Woodstock, Connecticut. He was 85.