Bruno the Trashman

 BRUNO   THE   TRASH MAN  is a sanitation engineer on  SESAME STREET  who act s as personal chauffeur to  OSCAR THE GROUCH .

During t h e 1 9 7 0  s, the  SESAME STREET   cast  made live performance s a cross the country , but there was  no  effective way to help  OSCAR THE GROUCH  to enter t h e stage s.  CAROLL SPINNEY , inspire d by a puppet character on  The   Gong   Show  , conceive d of a full - body  GARBAGE  man who could physically carry  OSCAR . Since his arm s are usually just hold in g onto  OSCAR  ’ s  TRASH CAN ,  CAROLL SPINNEY  was able to perform   OSCAR  as well as  OSCAR  ’ s left hand while in side the  BRUNO  costume. The  TRASH CAN  was connect ed t o an opening i n  BRUNO  ’ s stom ach.

Though usually  BRUNO  ’ s a silent  SESAME STREET  character , 1| 1  of the few time s that  BRUNO  spoke w as in t he  song  "  Put  IT  in the  TRASH   CAN  " , which he sang as part of a sing in g group , "  BRUNO  &amp; t h e  TRASH  m e n  ". He had a brief line at the end of  Follow That  BIRD , say in g " Sure , Boss  ! " when  OSCAR  asked him to just go take a walk around the block. Similarly, when  OSCAR  ask s him a question in the special   Here Come the Puppets !  ,  BRUNO  does man age to get out t he sentence " Well , uh ... " before  OSCAR  cut s him o ff & say s that ’ s enough. An in visible wire was connect ed from  BRUNO  ’ s mouth to somewhere inside the  TRASH CAN .

According to  CAROLL SPINNEY ,  BRUNO  ’ s greatest moment was at the end of  Follow That  BIRD  " as he slowly walks into the sunset carrying  OSCAR  ". .  BRUNO  has demonstrated skills at rollerskating while also carrying  OSCAR  in his   TRASH CAN , in both  Here Come the Puppet s !  &  BIG   BIRD  ’ s Birth day o r Let  ME  E at Cake .  BRUNO , in t h e latter , surprise d both  OSCAR  ( to his  disappointment ) & t h e hum ans ( to the ir amaze ment ) at how good of a skate r he was.

After several years in storage, the puppet ’ s foam eventually just completely , literally disintegrate d. .  SPINNEY  later remarked in a live appear ance that re build ing the puppet would have been prohibitive ly expensive, & the character  was retire d.

Y ear s l ate r in Episode 4 6 2 1  in  2 0 1 6. a recycling man appear s. Though not name d directly, his physical appearance & profession suggest that the character is intended to be  BRUNO . In this iteration, he ’ s mad e fro m a Pumpkin   live hand   Anything Muppet  & performed by  John Tartaglia.

Appear an ce s
T V /  Movie s  /  Special s
 *  SESAME STREET  ( 1 9 6 9  - present )


 * Episode 1 8 99 (  1 9 8 3  )
 * Episode 2 4 9 5 (  1 9 88  )
 * Episode 2 5 9 5 (  1 9 8 9  )
 *  EPISODE 2 7 4 6  ( 1 99 0  )
 * Episode 2 8 4 0 (  1 99 1  )
 *  EPISODE 3 0 2 3  ( 1 99 3  )
 * Episode 3 0 55 (  1 99 3  )
 *  EPISODE 3 0 8 3  ( 1 99 3  )
 *  Here Come the Puppets !  ( 1 9 8 0  )
 *  Follow That  BIRD  ( 1 9 8 5  )
 *  The Muppet s : A Celebration of 30 Year s  ( 19 8 6  )
 *  SE SAME   STREET , S p e c i a l  ( 1 9 88  )
 *  BIG   BIRD  ’ s Birth day o r Let  ME  E at Cake  ( 1 99 1  )

Book s
 *  First Day o f School  ( 1 9 8 2  )
 *  Ernie  ’ s Neigh b or hood  ( 1 9 8 7  )
 *  OSCAR  ’ s  GROUCHY  Sound s  ( 1 99 0  )
 *  Fro m  TRASH  to Treasure  ( 1 99 3  )