That's why a happy show like "Sesame Street" wanted a character as sumptuous as Oscar the Grouch.

He is green, he lives in a garbage can and always wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.

He calls himself Oscar the Grouch and even the people who watched "Sesame Street" when he was a kid could find him a little disconcerting. Why is it green? How did he choose his house? And why is he so bad tempered?

The answer lies in Caroll Spinney, performing roles of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, who announced his retirement on Monday after nearly 50 years. (His compatriot Eric Jacobson, who plays Miss Piggy, will assume the reins of Grover and Bert.)

Spinney was introduced to the characters when the creator of "Sesame Street," Jim Henson, called him in the early 1960s.

"[Henson] "Why do not you come to New York to talk about the Muppets?" Spinney told NPR in 2003. "I have some characters to build. One is a big, funny bird, and the other is the grumpy character who will live in a pile of garbage in the gutter. "

After Oscar the Grouch was born like that grumpy Muppet – though originally he was orange – Spinney had to give him a voice.

"I had never played a character like Oscar and I did not feel any of my voices resembling the Muppets I had used to hear," writes Spinney in his book "Wisdom." of Big Bird ".

He sought inspiration on the streets of New York and found the Bronx taxi driver who had driven him to the meeting with Henson.

"He was the most stereotypical taxi driver of the time – a Bronx guy in his forties who wore a tweed cap with a little brim – and he grunted from the corner of the mouth: "Where to go, Mac?" Writes Spinney. . "Who could be more of a Grouch than a Bronx taxi driver?" I had my ideal model for my new character. "

Oscar, according to the description of the character given by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, is to teach "the importance of understanding, tolerance and diversity". According to Robert W. Morrow's book "Sesame Street" and the Children's Television Reform, "Oscar acted differently and lived in a kind of different metaphor," to dramatize tolerance towards those who are different … In segments On the conflicts between Oscar and the others in the street, the show taught how children could cope with diversity in the context of school desegregation. "

Despite the character's admirable intentions, Spinney had initially thought that he might not be suitable for children.

"I had the habit of asking myself questions at the time of" Sesame Street ". Why is Oscar on? It's such an unpleasant and even seemingly impolite character, "he told HuffPost. "One producer said," I think it takes all kinds of things to create a world. And it's just another. "

But in the end, Spinney discovered that Oscar always had a heart. Although he complains, he still helps those in need – he has just done so while grumbling. When her human friend Maria needed a lock to repair a car, for example, Oscar searched her trash for help in finding one, but not before muttering, "God, another rotten day. "As grumpy as it is, he would always let a hungry child eat before him," wrote Spinney.

The character has turned out to be a huge success. On the show, he sometimes complained to famous musicians such as Johnny Cash and Billy Joel. And the character has spawned different versions around the world: His cousin Moishe Oofnik appears in Israel, living in an old car. In Turkey, his name is Kirpik and he lives in a basket. And in Pakistan, he is Akhtar, and his house is an old barrel of oil.

He even appeared in a number of other popular shows, such as "Scrubs", "The Simpsons" and "South Park".

Oscar may be a world celebrity at this point, but for Spinney, he's just the grumpy man who tries to hide his heart in gold.

Spinney admitted that Oscar "does not think at all like me", but that's what makes him so special.

"I deal with a mental entity that is not me, even if I empower it," wrote Spinney. "Oscar has learned the power of puppetry."

"And I'll say it," he continued. "After playing Big Bird all day, it's almost therapeutic to move on to Oscar, to live some time with exactly the opposite attitude to life."