“Big Bird has always had the biggest heart on ‘Sesame Street,’ and that’s Caroll’s gift to us,” said Jeffrey Dunn, the president and chief executive of Sesame Workshop. “I think it’s fair to say that Caroll’s view of the world and how we should treat each other has shaped and defined our organization.”

The character became an instantly recognizable symbol of youthful guilelessness, traveling the world and appearing on other TV shows like “Saturday Night Live,” “The West Wing” and “The Colbert Report.” Big Bird was the protagonist of the 1985 “Sesame Street” feature film, “Follow That Bird,” and Spinney was the subject of a 2014 documentary, “I Am Big Bird.”

Spinney has said that over the years his work on “Sesame Street” acquainted him with countless fans who could not help but tell him — often with eyes full of tears — how the show had changed their lives.

[ What did you love about Big Bird or Oscar the Grouch? What lessons did they teach you and your family? Please share your reflections in the comments. We may publish a selection. ]

He spoke of a woman he met in Cambridge, Mass., who related how a chance encounter with Oscar the Grouch in her adolescence taught her it was permissible to stand up for herself.

While wandering through the TV channels, Spinney said, the woman came upon “this strange creature saying no.” As she later told him, “I didn’t know you could say no to an adult.”