- Here is Carroll Spinney's story.
Carroll Spinney is Big Bird,
on the educational and entertaining
children's television show, Sesame Street.
- [Gordon] Hello, Big Bird.
- Oh, hi, Gordon.
- How are you?
You know what I want you to do?
I want you to meet Sally.
- Oh, sure.
Hi, Sally.
Sally, where's Sally?
- [Guy] However, Big Bird isn't the only role
Carroll plays on Sesame Street.
When Carroll isn't wandering round in masses
of bright yellow feathers,
he can be found living in a most famous trash can
on television, the home of Oscar the Grouch.
(banging)
- Oscar, come on out.
- What?
- Come on out, say hello to Sally.
- Ah, go away.
Close my can, would you?
You'll let all fresh air and sunlight in.
Boy, I hate that.
Ugh.
Look, Sally, Oscar's a grouch.
- Carroll and Big Bird are very similar
in their genuine niceness and sweetness
and lovingness.
- Look at that.
See, it's got letters on it.
You know what it is?
- [Child] It's the ABCs.
- He's just so respectful and so nice to all the kids
and all that comes across in Big Bird.
- Eight.
- Nine.
- What's next?
- 10! - Oh, of course. (laughing)
- And so it was an artist of 1969,
and it was a poetry festival in Salt Lake City,
and that was where I first met Carroll.
Well, he's a very talented performer,
and he had a great sense of ad-libbing,
and he was doing this strange looking cat
on a local television program,
and so we started talking at that point
about doing this show,
and I asked Carroll if he would enjoy
coming and being a part of this very strange bird.
- He said, I'm going to build a large bird.
I was wondering if you might be interested in playing it?
To me, it's very much like if some fellow came up to me
and I was a drummer,
and said, "I've a little band from Liverpool.
"Would you like to be a drummer, then?"
I love playing Oscar.
He has a power I never had.
♪ Oh, I love trash ♪
- He's totally different than Big Bird.
I can't believe that Jim gave me two such characters
that have become iconic, and are part of so many people
in America growing up.
- How about that Oscar?
("Sing a Song")
- [Carroll] And I said, "Would you wanna go out to dinner?"
- I said yes.
And I remember when we crossed the street
at Central Park West.
It was very crowded, and he took my hand,
and honestly, at that moment, when he held my hand,
it was very protective and really lovely,
I knew I would be with him for the rest of my life.
- [Carroll] 13 days later, we walking down Broadway,
and I suddenly, it occurred to me,
if she's not in my life the rest of my life,
I don't know what I would do.
So I suddenly whirled her around.
I said, "You will marry me, won't you?"
- [Debra] And I was like (stammering), yes.
I was so nervous, but I said yes.
- Well, Carroll's one of those,
he's one of the last remaining people
to work on Sesame Street from day one.
He is a link to the history of this show.
- He's never coming back?
- Never.
- Well, I don't understand.
You know, everything was just fine.
Why does it have to be this way?
Give me one good reason.
- It has to be this way because.
- Just because?
- Just because.
- You know, I'm gonna miss you, Mr. Looper.
- That's Hooper, Big Bird.
Hooper.
(group laughing through tears)
- I've gained from him, I've gained by watching him,
watching him in life, and watching him as Big Bird.
- What Jim had said about leaving the world a better place
than it was when he got here,
and I thought, that's a pretty good and decent thing
to think, and think because of all the hundreds
of millions of children who have watched
intently on our show,
that I can feel it's probably a little bit better a place
than if he, if Big Bird hadn't been there,
and had his suffering and his joy,
and I think that that's what I'd like to leave,
call my legacy.
(whimsical music)