I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story

Listen up, everybody! I AM BIG BIRD is the story of a really nice man who always plays pretend. Once upon a time — at the 1969 Puppeteers of America conference — an animator and Bozo show worker named Caroll Spinney met Muppet meister Jim Henson. Soon thereafter the Children’s Television Workshop launched Sesame Street, and Big Bird was hatched. Caroll, the man behind the feathers (and Oscar the Grouch), is now 81 and still filling children with joy. Home videos show Caroll and other Muppeteers clowning around behind the scenes at Sesame Street. He appears as Big Bird at live shows, “mini-Woodstocks” where the audience pours out its love. Frank Oz and Cheryl Henson describe how Caroll parlayed his personality of a six-year-old into a global phenomenon. Soon it will be time to pass the torch; Caroll now has a stand-in. And thanks to that nice man, we will carry Big Bird in our hearts long after Caroll Spinney steps out of the spotlight. – B.B.