Brett Ferino
04-29-2003, 02:09 PM
LOS ANGELES - The man behind Big Bird is unmasking to tell fans — to paraphrase the show's theme song — how he got to "Sesame Street."
Carroll Spinney, who has portrayed the lofty lemon-feathered puppet for 34 years on the children's public television show, chronicles his rise to bird-dom Tuesday in a new autobiography, "The Wisdom of Big Bird."
He said he was reluctant to step outside the costume, but after all this time, he figured older fans would be interested in learning the behind-the-scenes history of the show.
"For years I've kind of hidden from the public because I've seen disappointed kids," Spinney, 69, said in a phone interview from his Connecticut home.
Some friends once introduced him to a 9-year-old neighbor who was a fan. "He comes running in ... and said, 'Wow, where's Big Bird?'" he recalled. "And they said, 'Well, this is the fellow who's in it.' He looked at me and you've never seen such a crestfallen face."
Spinney, who also performs as the show's green garbage-can dweller, Oscar the Grouch, said that character's scratchy voice was inspired by a foul-mouthed cab driver from the Bronx.
Portraying such opposites on "Sesame Street," Spinney said, lets him showcase the happy and cantankerous elements of his own personality.
"Some people have asked which am I most like, Big Bird or Oscar?" he said. "And my wife says mostly I'm like Big Bird. But if anything can get me sounding like Oscar, it's frustrating drivers."
Carroll Spinney, who has portrayed the lofty lemon-feathered puppet for 34 years on the children's public television show, chronicles his rise to bird-dom Tuesday in a new autobiography, "The Wisdom of Big Bird."
He said he was reluctant to step outside the costume, but after all this time, he figured older fans would be interested in learning the behind-the-scenes history of the show.
"For years I've kind of hidden from the public because I've seen disappointed kids," Spinney, 69, said in a phone interview from his Connecticut home.
Some friends once introduced him to a 9-year-old neighbor who was a fan. "He comes running in ... and said, 'Wow, where's Big Bird?'" he recalled. "And they said, 'Well, this is the fellow who's in it.' He looked at me and you've never seen such a crestfallen face."
Spinney, who also performs as the show's green garbage-can dweller, Oscar the Grouch, said that character's scratchy voice was inspired by a foul-mouthed cab driver from the Bronx.
Portraying such opposites on "Sesame Street," Spinney said, lets him showcase the happy and cantankerous elements of his own personality.
"Some people have asked which am I most like, Big Bird or Oscar?" he said. "And my wife says mostly I'm like Big Bird. But if anything can get me sounding like Oscar, it's frustrating drivers."