Big Bird was almost on Challenger space shuttle, documentary reveals

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Big Bird was supposed to be aboard doomed Challenger flight

Revelations about actor in new documentary on iconic character

Throughout his 46 years playing Big Bird on “Sesame Street,” Caroll Spinney has always stood apart from the show’s other puppeteers.

For one thing, the full-body costume means he can’t easily interact with cast members. For another, it means he can cry without anyone noticing.

He’s done it a few times, most notably while singing “Bein’ Green” at mentor Jim Henson’s funeral; another was during the darkest period of his life, when divorce and depression made him thankful the suit hid his tears.

Those tears — as well as plenty of smiles — are explored in the new documentary “I Am Big Bird,” opening Wednesday in select theaters. 

You might have guessed that part already, but here are five things you don’t know about the man who is Big Bird.

He was almost on the doomed Challenger space shuttle
Big Bird — with Spinney in the suit — was originally slated to be a part of the Challenger space-shuttle mission in 1986, in the hopes of renewing kids’ interest in America’s space program. But the suit wouldn’t fit on the shuttle, so NASA scrapped the plan. The shuttle exploded soon after takeoff, killing its seven crew members — including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who was selected in Spinney’s place.

He was once making so little money that he almost quit
Playing a giant bird didn’t automatically lead to a giant nest egg. In the early days of “Sesame Street,” the show was a hit, but Spinney’s $375-a-week paycheck left him unable to afford rent for his Upper West Side apartment. Legendary puppeteer Kermit Love, who helped create the Big Bird costume, talked him into staying.

“'You’ll never find an opportunity like this again,’” Spinney recalls him saying. “It was exactly what I had gone looking for.”

He’s not the only Big Bird
Spinney is inextricably tied to Big Bird’s identity — but he’s not the only one who gets to wear the yellow suit. His apprentice, 44-year-old Matt Vogel, has been waiting in the wings 17 years for Spinney to retire. In the meantime, Vogel acts as a producer and puppeteer on the show, occasionally donning the costume.

The days weren’t always so sunny
It’s hard to picture, knowing Big Bird to be the embodiment of optimism, but Spinney once considered suicide. In 1971, the puppeteer discovered that his then wife and mother to his 1-year-old son was cheating on him. They got divorced, setting off a spiral of depression.

“I’d put food in my mouth and I’d say, ‘Chew it, for God’s sake! Swallow it! You’re not eating,’ ” he says.

He’s related to Barack Obama
Spinney and the president of the United States share a distant great-grandfather, Josiah Cook, making them ninth cousins, twice removed. The puppeteer got the news via a cousin who had a genealogist trace the family’s history.

Click here to find out more about the documentary in the New York Post.