The actor who has voiced both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for nearly 50 years is saying his last goodbyes to Sesame Street. Puppeteer Caroll Spinney announced that October 18, 2018 will be his last day in the children’s television series.

Spinney performed on thousands of the show’s 4,400 plus episodes. He joined ” Sesame Street” in 1969.

“Before I came to Sesame Street, I didn’t feel like what I was doing was very important. Big Bird helped me find my purpose,” said Spinney. Sometimes it can be hard to try and find what your purpose is, and it took him a while to find his. Playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch was Spinney’s best 50 years of acting. He made Big Bird into the character we all grew up on. Spinney made a suggestion to the show’s producers: “I said, I think I should play him like he’s a child, a surrogate,” he recalled. “He can be all the things that children are. He can learn with the kids.”

Spinney was asked if playing Big Bird was ever a regret, and his response to that was, “Playing Big Bird is one of the most joyous things in my life”. He also said, “How fortunate for me that I get to play the two best Muppets?” Spinney was the subject of a documentary entitled “I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story,” which was released in 2015. Spinney said that even though he has stepped down from playing the two best Muppets on Sesame Street, that he’ll always be Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch in his heart. At his departure, Spinney will be one of the last surviving “Sesame Street” staff members who has been with the show since its very beginning.