Paul Winchell
Encyclopedia
Paul Winchell was an American ventriloquist, voice actor
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...

 and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

, whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950-1954, he hosted The Paul Winchell Show
The Paul Winchell Show
The Paul Winchell Show, or The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show, was a variety program which aired on NBC prime time from 1950 to 1954, starring ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his dummy, Jerry Mahoney.-Series premise:...

, which also used two other titles during its prime time run on NBC, The Speidel Show and What's My Name? From 1965-1968, Winchell hosted the children's television series, Winchell-Mahoney Time.

Winchell, who had medical training, was also an inventor, becoming the first person to build and patent a mechanical artificial heart
Artificial heart
An artificial heart is a mechanical device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used in order to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in case transplantation is impossible...

, implantable in the chest cavity (US Patent #3097366). He has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

 for his work in television.

Early life

Winchell was born Paul Wilchinsky in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, the son of Solomon and Clara (Fuchs) Wilchinsky. His father was a tailor; his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

.

Winchell's initial ambition was to become a doctor, but the Depression wiped out any chance of his family being able to afford medical school tuition. At age 13, he contracted polio; while recovering, he happened on a magazine ad offering a ventriloquism kit for ten cents. Back at school, he asked his art teacher, Jerry Magon, if he could receive class credit for creating a ventriloquist's dummy. Mr. Magon was agreeable, and Winchell named his creation Jerry Mahoney, by way of thanks.

Winchell went back to reading magazines, gathering jokes from them and putting together a comedy routine which he then took to the Major Bowes Amateur Hour
Major Bowes Amateur Hour
Major Bowes Amateur Hour, American radio's best-known talent show, was one of the most popular programs broadcast in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s...

, winning first prize. A touring offer, playing various theaters with the Major Bowes Review, was part of the prize. Bandleader Ted Weems
Ted Weems
Wilfred Theodore Weems was an American bandleader and musician. Weems' work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.- Biography :...

 saw the young Winchell while on tour; he visited Winchell and made him an offer of employment. Winchell accepted and became a professional at age 14.

He was not related to radio commentator and gossip columnist Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...

, whose real last name was Winschel.

Ventriloquist work

Winchell's best-known ventriloquist dummies were Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. Mahoney was carved by Chicago-based figure maker Frank Marshall. Sometime later Winchell had basswood copies of Jerry's head made by a commercial duplicating service. One became the upgraded Jerry Mahoney that is seen primarily throughout Winchell's television career. He modified two other copies to create Knucklehead Smiff. The original Marshall Jerry Mahoney and one copy of Knucklehead Smiff are in storage at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

. The other two figures are in the collection of illusionist David Copperfield
David Copperfield (illusionist)
David Copperfield is an Emmy Award-winning American illusionist, and was described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history. Copperfield's network specials have been nominated for 38 Emmy Awards and won a total of 21 Emmys...

.

Winchell's first show as a ventriloquist was on radio with Jerry Mahoney in 1943. The program was short-lived, however, as he was overshadowed by Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...

. Winchell also created Oswald, a character that resembled Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture...

. The effect was accomplished by painting eyes and a nose on his chin, then adding a "body" covering the rest of his face, and finally electronically turning the camera image upside down. In 1961, Berwin Novelties introduced a home version of the character that included an Oswald body, creative pencils to draw the eyes and nose and a "magic mirror" that automatically turned a reflection upside down.

During the 1950s, Winchell hosted children's and adult programs with his figures for NBC Television, and later for syndication. The NBC Saturday morning program, sponsored by Tootsie Roll
Tootsie Roll
Tootsie Roll is a brand of chewy candy. It is a form of candy that has been manufactured in the United States since 1896. The manufacturer, Tootsie Roll Industries, is based in Chicago, Illinois.It was the first penny candy to be individually wrapped....

, featured a clubhouse motif and a theme song co-written by Winchell and his longtime bandleader and on-air sidekick, Milton DeLugg
Milton DeLugg
Milton DeLugg is an American composer and arranger.-Biography:A talented accordionist, he appeared in short Soundies musicals and occasional movies . He quickly became a successful arranger and composer...

. On one episode, The Three Stooges appeared on the show to promote their joint feature film venture, "Stop, Look, and Laugh" in late 1959.

He made an appearance on "Nanny and the Professor
Nanny and the Professor
Nanny and the Professor is a U.S. fantasy situation comedy created by AJ Carothers and Thomas L. Miller for 20th Century Fox Television. During pre-production, the proposed title was Nanny Will Do. The series first aired as a mid-season replacement on January 21, 1970, on ABC and was last telecast...

" (Season 2, Episode 13) as a "mean old man" (a puppeteer who retired into seclusion after losing his wife in an accident).

Voice acting

Winchell's career after 1968, included a great deal of voice acting for animated cartoons, most notably for Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

 and Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...

. For the latter, he played the character Dick Dastardly
Dick Dastardly
Dick Dastardly is a fictional character and antagonist who appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Dastardly's most famous appearances are main character in the series Wacky Races and its spin-off Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines...

 in multiple series (notably Wacky Races
Wacky Races
Wacky Races is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer." Wacky Races ran on CBS from September...

and Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines
Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines
Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines is a cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for CBS. Originally the series was broadcast as a Saturday morning cartoon, airing from September 13, 1969 to January 3, 1970...

); Clyde and Softy on The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that premiered on CBS on September 13, 1969. The show lasted two full seasons, with a total of 17 half-hour episodes produced and released, the last first-run episode airing on January...

; and Fleegle on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, and Gargamel
Gargamel
In the fictional world of The Smurfs, Gargamel the sorcerer is the sworn enemy of the Smurfs and the main antagonist in the show and comic books. While described as a wizard in the narration, Gargamel is not depicted as possessing real magical powers to speak of...

 on The Smurfs. He also provided the voice of Boobie Bear in Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch! in 1971, the voice of Revs on Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch is a 30-minute cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired for one season on NBC from September 7, 1974 to August 30, 1975...

, as Moe on The Robonic Stooges
The Robonic Stooges
The Robonic Stooges was a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series featuring the characters of The Three Stooges in new roles as clumsy crime-fighting bionic superheroes...

(a role he previously played on The New Scooby Doo Movies), and Shake on The CB Bears.

In 1973, he did the voice of Goober the Dog on the H-B show Goober and the Ghost Chasers
Goober and the Ghost Chasers
Goober and the Ghost Chasers was a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired on ABC from September 8, 1973 to August 30, 1975. A total of 16 half-hour episodes of Goober and the Ghost Chasers were produced. The show's episodes were later serialized as part of the syndicated...

and also guest starred as the rain-making villain on an episode of Hong Kong Phooey
Hong Kong Phooey
Hong Kong Phooey is a 16-episode Hanna-Barbera animated series that first aired on ABC Saturday morning from to . The main character, Hong Kong Phooey, is a superhero who uses Chinese martial arts to fight crime. Hong Kong Phooey is the secret alter ego of Penrod "Penry" Pooch, a "mild-mannered"...

.

For Disney, Winchell was best known for voicing the character Tigger
Tigger
Tigger is a fictional tiger-like character originally introduced in A. A. Milne's book The House at Pooh Corner. Like other Pooh characters, Tigger is based on one of Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed animals...

 in Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

's Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...

 films and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day is a 1968 animated featurette based on stories from the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. The featurette was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution on December 20, 1968 before The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. This was...

, and won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 for his performance in Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too.

Beginning with the television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television that ran from 1988 to 1991, inspired by A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories.-Overview:...

, he alternated in the role with Jim Cummings
Jim Cummings
James Jonah "Jim" Cummings is an American voice actor who has appeared in almost 100 roles. He has appeared in classic animated movies such as Aladdin and The Lion King, as well as taking on roles in more current films, such as Bee Movie, Princess and the Frog, and Winnie the Pooh.-Personal...

, the current voice of Pooh. Winchell's final performance as Tigger was in 1999 in Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You
Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine For You
A Valentine for You is a Valentine's Day television special based on the Disney television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, originally broadcast on February 13, 1999...

(though Winchell played Tigger one more time in the attraction The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh featured in the Disney theme parks). Following Winchell's retirement, Cummings permanently took over the role of Tigger starting with Sing a Song with Pooh Bear in 1999. Other Disney roles included parts in The Aristocats
The Aristocats
The Aristocats is a 1970 American animated feature produced and released by Walt Disney Productions in 1970 and stars Eva Gabor and Phil Harris, with Roddy Maude-Roxby as Edgar the butler, the villain of the story...

as a Siamese cat
Siamese (cat)
The Siamese is one of the first distinctly recognized breeds of Oriental cat. The origins of the breed are unknown, but it is believed to be from Thailand. In Thailand, where they are one of several native breeds, they are called Wichian Mat...

 named Shun Gon, and The Fox and the Hound
The Fox and the Hound (film)
The Fox and the Hound is a 1981 animated feature loosely based on the Daniel P. Mannix novel of the same name, produced by Walt Disney Productions and released in the United States on July 10, 1981...

as Boomer the woodpecker. On TV, he was the original voice of Zummi Gummi on Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears is an American animated television series that aired in the United States in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s...

for seasons 1-5, Jim Cummings took over for the final season in 1990.

Winchell provided the voices of Sam-I-Am and his unnamed friend in Green Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham is a best-selling and critically acclaimed book by Dr. Seuss, first published on August 12, 1960. As of 2001, according to Publishers Weekly, it was the fourth-best-selling English-language children's book of all time....

from the animated television special Dr. Seuss on the Loose
Dr. Seuss on the Loose
Dr. Seuss on the Loose is an animated musical television special, cartoon first airing on CBS on October 15, 1973, and hosted by The Cat in the Hat. who appears in bridging sequences where he introduced animated adaptations of Dr...

in 1973. He also performed the voice of Fleabag on The Oddball Couple
The Oddball Couple
The Oddball Couple was an animated half hour Saturday morning show that ran on the ABC TV network from September 6, 1975 to September 3, 1977...

, Fearless Freddy the Shark Hunter on the Pink Panther cartoon spin-off Misterjaw
Misterjaw
Misterjaw is a 34-episode made-for-television cartoon series, produced at DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in 1976 for The Pink Panther and Friends television series on NBC.-Plot:...

in 1976, as well as a number of one-shot characters in The Blue Racer
The Blue Racer
The Blue Racer is a series of 17 theatrical cartoons produced from 1972 to 1974.-Production:The cartoons are directed by Art Davis, Gerry Chiniquy, Sid Marcus, Bob McKimson, David Deneen, Bob Balser, Cullen Houghtaling and produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng...

series. In commercials, he voiced the character of Burger Chef
Burger Chef
Burger Chef was an American fast-food restaurant chain founded in 1954 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The chain expanded throughout the United States, and at its peak, was second only to McDonald's in the number of locations nationwide...

 for the fast food chain of the same name, the Scrubbing Bubbles
Scrubbing Bubbles
Scrubbing Bubbles is a brand of bathroom cleaner produced by S. C. Johnson & Son.The product was originally named Dow Bathroom Cleaner, after its manufacturer at the time, the Dow Chemical Company. After Dow sold some of its consumer product lines to S.C...

 for Dow Chemicals and Mr. Owl for Tootsie Roll Pops
Tootsie Roll Pops
Tootsie Pops are hard candy lollipops filled with chocolate-flavored chewy Tootsie Roll. They were invented in 1930 by Lukas R. "Luke" Weisgram, an employee of The Sweets Company of America. The company changed its name to Tootsie Roll Industries in 1966....

.

From 1981 to 1986, the talented voice actor performed one of his most notable roles; that of Gargamel
Gargamel
In the fictional world of The Smurfs, Gargamel the sorcerer is the sworn enemy of the Smurfs and the main antagonist in the show and comic books. While described as a wizard in the narration, Gargamel is not depicted as possessing real magical powers to speak of...

 on The Smurfs
The Smurfs (1981 TV series)
The Smurfs is an American animated television series that aired on NBC from September 12, 1981 to August 25, 1990...

as well as on several Smurfs television movies. During the 1980s, he was called upon by Hanna-Barbera to reprise his role of Dick Dastardly on Yogi's Treasure Hunt
Yogi's Treasure Hunt
Yogi's Treasure Hunt is a segment that kicked-off in 1985 as the first of the programming block, The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. It also ran as a regular series in syndication from 1985 to 1988.-Plot:...

(which was a tour-de-force featuring all of H-B characters) and later on Wake, Rattle and Roll (which was a Wacky Races
Wacky Races
Wacky Races is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer." Wacky Races ran on CBS from September...

spin-off). Also on the animated movie Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose
Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose
Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose is a 1987 animated movie for television produced by Hanna-Barbera as part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series.-Plot:...

, he did the voice of the Dread Baron, who was previously voiced by John Stephenson
John Stephenson (actor)
John Stephenson is an American actor and voice actor. He has also been credited as John Stevenson...

 on the Laugh-a-Lympics. The evil character is incredible similar to Dastardly, including having a canine henchman Mumbly, voiced by Don Messick
Don Messick
Donald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....

 Muttley's voice.

Live appearance work

Winchell (often with Jerry Mahoney) was a frequent guest panelist on What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....

in 1956. Other work included on-camera guest appearances on such series as The Polly Bergen Show
The Polly Bergen Show
The Polly Bergen Show is a half-hour 18-episode comedy/variety show, starring then 27-year-old Polly Bergen, which aired on NBC in the 1957-1958 television season. The program is remembered for its impressive guest-star lineup as well as its closing theme song, "The Party's Over" .The Polly Bergen...

, as Homer Winch on The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....

, The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...

, The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...

, Claude Wilbur on The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....

, Dan Raven
Dan Raven
Dan Raven is a crime drama starring Skip Homeier , a former child actor in films, which aired on NBC between January 23, 1960, and January 6, 1961. The setting of the series is the famous Sunset Strip of West Hollywood, California...

, and The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...

, as well as a 1960 movie that included a compilation of Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...

 shorts (Stop!, Look and Laugh), and a part in the Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...

 movie Which Way to the Front?
Which Way to the Front?
Which Way to the Front? is a 1970 film starring Jerry Lewis. It would be Lewis' last released film for eleven years , until 1981's Hardly Working. The unreleased The Day the Clown Cried was filmed in the years between...

.

Winchell appeared as himself in 1963 in the NBC game show Your First Impression
Your First Impression
Your First Impression is a NBC daytime game show which aired from January 2, 1962, to June 26, 1964. A panel of three celebrities tried to guess the identity of mystery guests from clues supplied by the host. Bill Leyden was the MC of the program, with Dennis James as a regular panelist or...

.

He appeared in the late 1960s in a gag on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in as a French ventriloquist named Lucky Pierre, who has the misfortune of having his elderly dummy die of a heart attack in the middle of his act.

On Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...

, he appeared with fellow ventriloquist Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s and 1990s...

 in a sketch about two shy people in a waiting room who choose to introduce themselves to each other through their dummies.

Winchell also appeared in Mrs. Doubtfire
Mrs. Doubtfire
Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy film starring Robin Williams and Sally Field and based on the novel Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It was directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup...

as the trolley driver in 1993.

Winchell-Mahoney Time

Winchell's most successful TV show was Winchell-Mahoney Time (1965–1968), a children's show written by his then wife, actress Nina Russel. Winchell played several onscreen characters, including Knucklehead Smiff's father, Bonehead Smiff. He also played himself as friend and adult advisor to Mahoney and Smiff. He also created "Oswald," a surreal character, by painting eyes and a nose on his chin, covering his face with a small costume, then having the camera image inverted. The resulting pinheaded character seemed to have an immensely wide mouth and a highly mobile head. Winchell created this illusion by moving his chin back and forth.

The show was produced at KTTV
KTTV
KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station...

 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, which was owned by Metromedia
Metromedia
Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...

. In 1986, Winchell sued Metromedia – which at the time was about to be purchased by Fox Television Stations as the foundation for the new Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 – over syndication rights to 288 surviving videotape
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...

s of the show. Metromedia responded by destroying the tapes. Subsequently, a jury awarded Winchell $17.8 million.

Winchell's last regular on-camera TV appearances working with his puppets were The Storybook Squares, a children's version of the adult celebrity game show The Hollywood Squares which was seen Saturday mornings on NBC during the 1969 TV season, and Runaround
Runaround (game show)
Runaround was a children's television game show produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions. The program was hosted by Paul Winchell, airing Saturday mornings on NBC from September 9, 1972 to September 1, 1973...

, another children's TV game show seen Saturday mornings on NBC from September 1972 to September 1973.

Medical

Winchell was interested in medicine and was a pre-med student at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. He graduated from The Acupuncture Research College of Los Angeles in 1974, and became an acupuncturist. He also worked as a medical hypnotist at the Gibbs Institute in Hollywood.

Patents

Winchell developed over 30 patents in his lifetime. He invented an artificial heart with the assistance of Dr. Henry Heimlich
Henry Heimlich
Dr. Henry Jay Heimlich , an American physician, has received credit as the inventor of abdominal thrusts, more commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver, though debate continues over his role in the development of the procedure...

, the inventor of the Heimlich Maneuver, and held the first patent for such a device. The University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...

 developed a similar apparatus around the same time, but when they tried to patent it, Winchell's heart was cited as prior art. The university requested that Winchell donate the heart to the University of Utah, which he did.

There is some debate as to how much of Winchell's design Dr. Robert Jarvik used in creating Jarvik's artificial heart. Dr. Heimlich states, "I saw the heart, I saw the patent and I saw the letters. The basic principle used in Winchell's heart and Jarvik's heart is exactly the same." Jarvik denies that any of Winchell's design elements were incorporated into the device he fabricated for humans — the Jarvik-7, which was successfully implanted into Barney Clark in 1982.

Winchell established more medical patents while working on projects for the Leukemia Society (now known as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society , founded in 1949, is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. LLS's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of...

) and the American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...

. Some of the other devices he invented and patented include a disposable razor, a blood plasma
Blood plasma
Blood plasma is the straw-colored liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume. It is the intravascular fluid part of extracellular fluid...

 defroster, a flameless cigarette lighter
Lighter
A lighter is a portable device used to generate a flame. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable fluid or pressurized liquid gas, a means of ignition, and some provision for extinguishing the flame.- History :...

, an "invisible" garter belt, a fountain pen
Fountain pen
A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action...

 with a retractable tip, and battery-heated gloves.

Humanitarian efforts

In the 1980s Winchell, concerned about the starvation in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, developed a method to cultivate tilapia
Tilapia
Tilapia , is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Tilapia inhabit a variety of fresh water habitats, including shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes. Historically, they have been of major importance in artisan fishing in Africa and the...

 fish in tribal villages and small communities. The fish thrives in brackish waters, which made it particularly well suited for sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...

. Winchell appeared before a Congressional Committee with several other celebrities, including actors Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...

 and Ed Asner
Ed Asner
Edward Asner , commonly known as Ed Asner, is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...

, and Dr. Henry Heimlich
Henry Heimlich
Dr. Henry Jay Heimlich , an American physician, has received credit as the inventor of abdominal thrusts, more commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver, though debate continues over his role in the development of the procedure...

. The Committee declined to finance a pilot program for the tilapia aquaculture
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...

 project (in Africa) because it required digging a well into non-potable water, which the Committee felt was not advisable.

Family

Winchell had three biological children: a son, Stacy Paul Winchell; a daughter Stephanie from his first marriage to Dorothy (Dottie) Movitz; and a daughter, April Winchell
April Winchell
April Terri Winchell is an American actress, writer, voice actor, talk radio host, and commentator. She is the daughter of the late Paul Winchell.-Acting:...

, who is a comedienne and voice actress, from his second marriage, to actress Nina Russel.

Winchell's autobiography, Winch (2004
2004 in literature
The year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....

), exposed many dark areas of Winchell's life, which had hitherto been kept private, including early stories of an abusive childhood, a long history of depression and at least one mental breakdown and a short stint in an institution. The autobiography opened old wounds within the Winchell family, prompting daughter April to publicly defend her mother who was negatively portrayed in the book. Winchell was estranged
Estranged
-Personnel:* Axl Rose – lead vocals, piano, production* Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar, production* Slash – lead guitar, production* Duff McKagan – bass, production* Matt Sorum – drums, production-External links:*...

 from his children, and thus they were not immediately notified of his death. A message on April's website stated:
I got a phone call a few minutes ago, telling me that my father passed away yesterday. A source close to my dad, or at least, closer than I was, decided to tell me himself, instead of letting me find out on the news, which I appreciate. Apparently a decision had been made not to tell me, or my father's other children. My father was a very troubled and unhappy man. If there is another place after this one, it is my hope that he now has the peace that eluded him on earth.

Hobbies

Winchell was interested and involved in technology right up to the time of his death. He created and maintained a personal website until 2004. For a short time, he operated the now-defunct website ProtectGod.com, which discussed the theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 of the latter years of his life.

Death

Winchell died on June 24, 2005, of natural causes
Death by natural causes
A death by natural causes, as recorded by coroners and on death certificates and associated documents, is one that is primarily attributed to natural agents: usually an illness or an internal malfunction of the body. For example, a person dying from complications from influenza or a heart attack ...

, at his home in Los Angeles California. He was 82 years old. Winchell was survived by his wife, daughter April
April Winchell
April Terri Winchell is an American actress, writer, voice actor, talk radio host, and commentator. She is the daughter of the late Paul Winchell.-Acting:...

, his other children, and three grandchildren. His remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered around his home property.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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