Caroll Spinney may not be a household name to you, but he was the muppeteer in the Big Bird suit (and Oscar the Grouch) that kids loved for decades on the NPR children's show 'Sesame Street'.

In a new documentary film, he tells what it was like to be the man in the giant bird costume, including some things I never knew.

Spinney is 81 years old now and the documentary that premieres next week called “I Am Big Bird” takes you into the dark places of Spinney’s life, as well as giving you some interesting tidbits about him.

For instance, Spinney is 9th cousins, twice removed, with President Barack Obama (they share a great-grandfather). But Spinney also admits that during down periods in his life, he’s broken down and cried in his costume, including when he was singing “Bein’ Green” with other cast members at Jim Henson’s funeral (see video below), and after his new wife cheated on him, leading to divorce.

Spinney also explained that he and his Big Bird costume were originally scheduled to be on board the Space Shuttle Challenger in order to get “the children of America to be more interested in NASA." However, luckily for Spiney, the suit wouldn’t fit. It was, unfortunately, schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe took Spinney’s place, dying in the explosion that followed.

 

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