Big Bird, director Helmut Hermann, Samson and Kermit Love on the set of On the set of Sesamstrasse (the German-language version of Sesame Street).

I just got the sad news that Kermit Love passed away last Saturday at the age of 91. Kermit was an incredible puppet builder and costume designer who was long associated with the Muppets. Kermit worked with marionettes as a child, which led to a career working on Broadway shows and eventually collaborating with Jim Henson. He was one of the key people responsible for refining the look of the classic Sesame Street Muppets; probably his most famous work was building Big Bird.

Carol Spinney (Big Bird’s puppeteer) often tells a famous anecdote about how Kermit convinced him to stick with the Muppets when he was ready to leave. After his first year on Sesame Street, Carol felt he wasn’t making enough money to live in New York and planned to tell Jim Henson he was quitting the show, but Kermit convinced him to give it another month. The next week Big Bird was on the cover of Time magazine and Carol never had another thought about leaving.

Kermit also worked on a number of successful non-Muppet puppetry projects, including the Great Space Coaster and Snuggles the Fabric Softener Bear. Although he was primarily a behind-the-scenes figure, he stepped in front of the camera to play Willy the hot dog vendor on Sesame Street for many years in the 1970s and `90s.

The puppetry world has lost another giant.