Bruno the Trashman

  Muppeteer :   Caroll Spinney   Design Team:  Caroll Spinney  • ( Designer )  Bruno the Trash man  is a sanitation engineer on Sesame Street who acts as personal chauffeur to  Oscar the Grouch .

During the 1970 s, the Sesame Street cast made live performances across the country , but there was no effective way to help  Oscar the Grouch  to enter the stages. Caroll Spinney, inspired by a puppet character on  The Gong Show  , conceived of a full - body  garbage  man who could physically carry  Oscar. Since his arms are usually just holding onto  Oscar  ' s  trash can , Caroll Spinney  was able to perform  Oscar  as well as  Oscar  ' s right hand while inside the Bruno costume. The  trash can  was connected to an opening in Bruno ' s stomach.

Though generally Bruno ' s a silent character, 1 of the few times that Bruno spoke was in the song " Put It in the  Trash Can  " , which he sang as part of a singing group , "  Bruno  & the  Trash  men  ". He had a brief line at the end of Follow That Bird, saying " Sure , Boss  ! " when  Oscar  asked him to take a walk around the block. Similarly, when  Oscar  asks him a question in ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Here_Come_the_Puppets! Here Come the Puppets ! ]'', Bruno gets out a " Well , uh . . . " before  Oscar  cuts him off & says that ' s enough. An invisible wire was connected 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 ''[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Here_Come_the_Puppets! Here Come the Puppets ! ] & Big Bird 's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake''. Bruno, in the latter , surprised both  Oscar  ( to his disappointment ) & the hum ans ( to the ir amazement ) at how good of a skater he was.

After several years in storage, the puppet ' s foam eventually disintegrated. . Spinney  later remarked in a live appearance that rebuilding the puppet would have been prohibitively expensive, & the character was retired.

TV / Movies / Specials

 * Sesame Street ( 1969 - present )


 * Episode 2495 ( 1988 )
 * Episode 2595 ( 1989 )
 * Episode 2746 ( 1990 )
 * Episode 3023 ( 1993 )
 * Episode 3055 ( 1993 )
 * Episode 3083 ( 1993 )
 * Here Come the Puppets ! ( 1980 )
 * Follow That Bird ( 1985 )
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years ( 1986 )
 * Sesame Street, Special ( 1988 )
 * Big Bird 's Birthday or Let Me Eat Cake ( 1991 )

Books

 * 1st Day of School ( 1982 )
 * Ernie ' s Neighborhood ( 1987 )
 *  OSCAR  ' s  Grouchy  Sounds  ( 1990 )
 *  From  TRASh  to Treasure  ( 1993 )