T.V PROGRAM SESAME STREETS,CELEBRATE'S 45 YEARS ON AIR.

- November 15, 2014

Beloved: Caroll Spinney, 80, is celebrating his 45th year with the beloved children's show Sesame Street in which he has played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since the show's first episode in 1969

Sesame streets,a longtime television series for children,celebrated it's 45th year this week and the man behind the show is 80 year old Caroll Spinney has been both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for the past 45 years since the show's first episode on November 10,1969.Caroll Spinney said ''It doesn't feel like it was 45 years.It's amazing''.The Big Bird has performed alongside countless celebrities over the years and Spinney has traveled to Japan,Australia,China,Canada,France,German and the United Kingdom for Sesame street television specials.It has remained some what of a secret that the six year old bird is actually played by an 80 year old man,but the public got a deeper look into the life of the man behind the feathers in the 2014 documentary ''I AM BIG BIRD''.The documentary,shares unknown stories of his time as both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch like the fire that occured in Oscar's trash can almost killing Spinney as well as Spinney cheating death when he declined an offer to take himself and his Big Bird costume aboard the ill-fated space shuttle challenger in 1986.Spinney said that when directors set out to make the documentary five years ago,they believed they would be capturing Spinney last season as the beloved bird.More photos below. Around the World: Spinney has traveled to Japan, Australia, China, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom for Sesame Street television specials