Don't tell Mitt! The actor who brought Big Bird to life makes $314,000 a year

October 11, 2012

It looks like Mitt Romney was on to something when he promised to fire Big Bird during his first presidential debate: Big Bird makes big bucks!

Tax returns from PBS's Sesame Workshop show that the television show shelled out at least $314,072 for the actor behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

That makes Caroll Spinney, who has played everyone's favorite yellow-feathered friend since 1969, a true blue member of the One Percent.

Perched: That makes Caroll Spinney, pictured, who has played everyone's favorite yellow-feathered friend since 1969, a true blue member of the One Percent

But Mr Spinney isn't even the highest paid member of the puppetry staff. Jospeh Mazzarino, who plays Murray, Stinky the Stinkweed, the Two-Headed Monster, Papa Bear and directs some episodes, makes a cool half a million.

The other characters make around on average between $300,000 and $450,000 per year in salary.

The Sesame salary scandal broke when Mitt Romney pledged to cut funding to PBS.

'I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird,' the candidate said.

Comment: Mitt Romney promised to fire Big Bird during his debate with President Barack Obama

Dapper: Barack Obama's re-election campaign has latched on to the statement issuing campaign ads that feature the Sesame Street character, right

'But I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.'

The comment quickly went viral, with thousands sharing their dismay that the Republican would axe their childhood pal.

The show's creators sent out a tweet purportedly from Big Bird saying: 'My bed time is usually 7.45, but I was really tired yesterday and fell asleep at 7! Did I miss anything last night?'

Moments later, a more serious tweet appeared distancing the show from partisan politics.

'We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization,' the message read. 'We do not comment on campaigns, but we’re happy we can all agree that everyone likes Big Bird!'

In reality, however, funding cuts to PBS would not cause Big Bird to disappear from television screens.

Scandal: But Mr Spinney isn't even the highest paid member of the puppetry staff. Jospeh Mazzarino, who plays Murray, Stinky the Stinkweed, the Two-Headed Monster, Papa Bear and directs some episodes, makes a cool half a million

PBS awarded the show only $1.25million in 2011 and just $1.4million this year.

Those funds represent a meager 2 per cent of Sesame Workshop's annual budget, MSNBC reports.

Still, every cent counts. The Sesame Workshop reported losses of more than $10.8 million in 2011 and earlier this year, they announced plans to lay off more than a dozen employees.

VIDEO: Romney catches flack for Big Bird comments


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