POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Kermit Love, the costume designer who helped puppeteer Jim Henson create Big Bird and other “Sesame Street” characters, has died. He was 91.
Love died from congestive heart failure Saturday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., near his home in Stanfordville, Love’s longtime partner, Christopher Lyall, told The New York Times.
In addition to his work with Henson, Love was a designer for some of ballet’s most prominent choreographers, including Twyla Tharp, Agnes de Mille, Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine.
Love also designed costumes and puppets for film and advertising, including the Snuggle bear from the fabric softener commercials.
“Sesame Street,” public television’s groundbreaking effort to use TV to teach preschoolers, premiered in 1969. Henson designed the original sketches of Big Bird, and Love then built the 8-foot, 2-inch yellow-feathered costume.
“The most important thing about puppets is that they must project their imagination, and then the audience must open their eyes and imagine,” he said in 1981.
Love also helped design costumes and puppets for Mr. Snuffleupagus, Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster, among other characters.
He insisted Henson’s famous frog wasn’t named for him.
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