(Steve Miller | AP file photo) Carroll Spinney, best known for his TV character "Big Bird" from Sesame Street, receives an honorary doctor of Humane Letters degree from Eastern Connecticut State University President David G. Carter, right, during commencement in Willimantic, Conn., on May 21, 2000. Spinney, who gave Big Bird his warmth and Oscar the Grouch his growl for nearly 50 years on “Sesame Street,” died Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019 at his home in Connecticut, according to the Sesame Workshop. He was 85.