Caroll Edwin Spinney (born December 26, 1933) is an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author and speaker most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street from its inception in 1969 until 2018. He is usually credited as Caroll Spinney but has sometimes been credited using the alternate spelling Carroll Spinney or under the name Ed Spinney.\n', '

Caroll Edwin Spinney was born in Waltham, Massachusetts on December 26, 1933. His mother, a native of Bolton, England, named him Caroll because he was born the day after Christmas. He has been drawing and painting since he was a child. He developed a love of puppeteering when he saw a performance of Three Little Kittens at the age of five. This motivated him to purchase a monkey puppet from a rummage sale three years later and put on a puppet show utilizing the monkey and a plush snake. The following Christmas his mother gifted him with a Punch and Judy puppet theater. He continued puppeteering throughout his childhood and adolescence and used his performances to raise money for college tuition.\n', '

After he graduated from Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in Acton, Massachusetts, Spinney served in the US Air Force.\n', '

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