From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Caroll Edwin Spinney, sometimes credited as Carroll Spinney or Ed Spinney (December 26, 1933 – December 8, 2019), was an American puppeteer most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on the children's television show Sesame Street. Description above from the Wikipedia article Caroll Spinney, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.