Remembering Muppet performer Caroll Spinney, a wonderful human being

Caroll Spinney and I in 2014 (with characters added)

I met Caroll Spinney in 2014. For those of you unfamiliar with the name, he was the original performer of the Muppet characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, of Sesame Street. 

Spinney and I met in Toronto after his documentary biopic I Am Big Bird was screened at the Bell TIFF Lightbox Theatre. The movie made its world premiere in Toronto earlier that week. He and Debi (his wife) and Oscar attended EVERY screening of the movie that week. 

At the end of the screening, Spinney and even Oscar took time to answer questions from the audience. I told them I loved reading the book on How to Be a Grouch when I was a kid, and asked them what it was like to write it and whether it would be republished. They said writing and illustrating the book was fun, but at that time there weren't any plans to re-publish it. (It was republished this year to coincide with Sesame Street's 50th anniversary.)

Unlike some other celebrities, Spinney took time to talk to me, despite the fact that there were several other people waiting in line to see him. I told him I always loved the Muppets and grew up watching Sesame Street. I also told him I liked his movie, and the memoir he had published a few years earlier, titled The Wisdom of Big Bird.

 He told me that he continued to enjoy performing on the show, and even related a story to me about a former cast member who was born with my physical disability (osteogenesis imperfecta). I remembered Tarah being on the show for a while. He said they continued to keep in touch. I told him I had made contact with her.

As I was leaving, he said "Nice to meet you" in his Big Bird voice. Then he switched to his Oscar voice and said, "have a rotten day!" So funny.

Spinney performed on Sesame Street from 1969 until his retirement in 2018. He appeared on its 50th anniversary special last month, but by then his health had deteriorated. I was shocked to see a photo of him looking frail when he was honoured by New York City this past November. Ever the trooper, he fought hard to keep active until he couldn't anymore. He died on December 8. He would have turned 86 on December 26, known in Canada as Boxing Day.

I have met several famous people over the years. Meeting Spinney I would have to single out as being one of the best. He was a kind and gentle soul whose personality was more Big Bird than Oscar the Grouch.

A wonderful human being has flown to the heavens. Godspeed, Caroll Spinney.