ADVENTURES AS AN AMERICAN ICON ENCINO MAN WRITES BOOK ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES PLAYING BIG BIRD.

Byline: MARK KELLAM Valley News Writer

For four and half years, Encino resident Lionel Douglass portrayed one of the best-known children's characters of all time.

As Big Bird, Douglass, 51, toured the United States in a stage version of the classic television show ``Sesame Street'' from 1979 to 1984. Many of his favorite moments on the road are captured in a book he's written titled ``Feathers of Color: What It Was Like Playing Big Bird, An American Icon.''

The book, which was published earlier this year, chronicles his adventures both onstage and offstage.

Onstage, he recalls the time the Cookie Monster's head fell off. ``We thought the audience was going to have to go into therapy,'' Douglass said, chuckling. When he was offstage, he would volunteer to visit hospitals in the cities where the show was performing. He would meet with ill children, helping to brighten their day.

``It was voluntary, but I loved doing it,'' he said. ``The looks on the kids' faces made it worth it.''

He landed the Big Bird role through his ties with the TV show ``Solid Gold.'' He was a dancer on the popular music show in the 1970s. Anita Mann, the choreographer of ``Solid Gold,'' had been brought in to work on the new ``Sesame Street'' touring production, which was being started to help boost the TV show's sagging ratings.

Other dancers had been asked to play Big Bird, but they had turned it down because of the amount of travel that would be involved. Douglass didn't mind. ``I just thought, what the heck?'' he said, and off he went on the road. In addition to learning the dancing and stage movements, Douglass also had to get down Big Bird's voice, which he had to use whenever he was in costume.

When he would meet fans as Big Bird after performances, Douglass said children were always mesmerized, which was to be expected. What surprised him, however, was how much the children's mothers took an interest in the tall, yellow bird.

Some moms would whisper suggestive things in his ear. ``I don't know what it was about that bird,'' he said, laughing.

One perk of the job was working with Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets. ``He was so genuine,'' Douglass said. ``He liked you just for you, whatever your talents were.''

Douglass titled his book ``Feathers of Color'' because so many people were surprised when he removed the Big Bird costume and they saw that a black man was playing the character. ``It's funny. That was often the first thing people would talk about,'' he said.

He recalled one child who blurted out, ``Look, Mommy, Big Bird is black.''

In the years since playing Big Bird, Douglass has performed in several movies including the ``Lethal Weapon'' films, ``Pure Luck,'' ``Angels in the Outfield'' and ``Operation Dumbo Drop.'' He was also Danny Glover's body double for 15 years. ``I would be his hand double and back double or stand in for him in shots from far away,'' he said.

For the past 20 years, Douglass had been in the Jim Haulty Precision Driving Team, which does limited stunt work in movies and TV shows. Team members don't do complicated stunts, such as flips or jumps. They do less-demanding stunts, such as turning cars in 360-degree controlled spins or backing up streets at high speeds.

``Feathers of Color: What It Was Like Playing the Famous Big Bird, An American Icon'' is available at most major bookstores and on the Internet.

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Lionel Douglass of Encino played Big Bird in a touring stage production of ``Sesame Street'' for more than four years. He chronicles his experiences in a new book.