NEW YORK - The man who was the voice behind "Big Bird" and "Oscar the Grouch" has died. 

Sesame Workshop announced Sunday that Carroll Spinney died at his home in Connecticut, after living with a muscle disorder called Dystonia for some time.

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Spinney was 36 years old when he joined Jim Henson to work on Sesame Street in 1969.

He continued voicing and operating Big Bird and the Grouch for an astonishing 50 years, right up until he retired last year. 

Spinney was 85 years old.