Trivia

He won a $17.8-million jury verdict in his lawsuit against Metromedia Inc. over Metromedia's destruction of the only remaining tapes of his Winchell-Mahoney Time (1965) children's television series. Metromedia, which produced the show from 1964 to 1968, erased the 288 tapes in a dispute with Winchell over the syndication rights.

Held patents on over 30 devices, a flameless cigarette lighter, an invisible garter belt, a method of breeding Tilapia fish so that poorer countries could feed their citizens, and an indicator to show when frozen food had gone bad after a power outage. As for his major achievement, the artificial heart, which he built in 1963, was donated to the University of Utah for research. The first transplant into a human happened on December 3, 1967. Paul Winchell invented the disposable razor which he neglected to get a patent on. when friends told him "Who would buy a razor just to throw it away?" Paul abandoned the idea, later to Winch's dismay, a major razor company proved Paul was right.

His puppet side-kicks, Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, are now in the Smithsonian Institution.

Winchell worked for years developing his ideas for artificial hearts and was mentioned in news stories about the Utah man who got the first artificial heart and later when the Jarvik heart came to the fore. He held several patents in artificial organ development.

Winchell was an inventor who patented the first artificial human heart. He then donated the patent to the University of Utah Medical School.

Credits his British born third wife Jean who came up with Tigger's signature phrase "TTFN: Ta-ta for now". TTFN was a popular British expression frequently used during WWII (c1939 - 1945). Use as a catch phrase in the weekly British radio comedy "It's That Man Again" (1940) added to its popularity.

Became the voice for Tigger in 1968 for the Walt Disney Company's Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) which earned an Academy Award for best animated short. He retired the vocal role after 33 years with "Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving" in 1999 at the age of 76. Jim Cummings, who voiced Pooh since the death of Sterling Holloway, took over the role of Tigger.

Other famous cartoon voices over the years included Gargamel in "The Smurfs," the mustache-twirling Dick Dastardly of Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines (1969) and Boomer in The Fox and the Hound (1981).

Second wife, Nina Russel, was an actress. Their child April Winchell was born in 1960, and has done her father proud by becoming a top-notch vocal artist of her own. She has voiced "Clarabelle Cow", "Baby Herman's Mother", "Peg" in the Goof Troop (1992) series, and "Cruelle De Vil" for Disney; and contributed voices for such TV shows as The Simpsons (1989), and films such as Men in Black (1997).

Skilled voice-over artist for many Disney and Hanna-Barbera films.

Earned a 1974 Grammy award for Best Children's Recording with "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" from the feature Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974). He was also nominated for an Annie award for the animated feature Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997).

Formerly courted June Foray.

Died one day before the death of John Fiedler, who was the voice of Piglet in the animated Winnie the Pooh specials and films.

Was extremely shy as a youth and had a stuttering problem. Awed by famed ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (who became his idol) and his monocled dummy Charlie McCarthy as a youth, Paul learned to throw his own voice and gradually overcame his speech impediment.

Father of five children: Stephanie and Stacy (with first wife, Dottie Morse); April Winchell (with second wife, Nina Russel); and has adopted Larry and Keith (through his third wife, Jean Freeman). He's also got three grandchildren.

Named television's most versatile performer by Look magazine in 1952 and 1953.

Published the book "Ventriloquism for Fun and Profit" in 1954.

Recounts, in his autobiography, "Winch", about overcoming a severe childhood stutter, and tells about being severely abused by his mother. He had horrendous relationships with all of his children, according to his daughter, April Winchell, as told on her website (www.aprilwinchell.com) and book.

Ventriloquist star from 1950s and 1960s television and films.

Was the voice for the "scrubbing bubbles" mascot for Dow Bathroom Cleaner, and after Dow sold its consumer products line to S.C. Johnson, the product was renamed to Scrubbing Bubbles.

His most famous puppets each had a distinctive name for him. Jerry Mahoney called him "Winch" and Knucklehead Smiff referred to him as "Mr. Winkle".

Frank Marshall the famous woodcarver from Chicago, made the dummies that would become Jerry Mahoney and Kucklehead Smiff. He also made Edger Bergen's Charlie McCarthy dummy and Jimmy Nelson's Danny O'Day, Farfel the Dog (famous for Nestles commercials), Terry Bennett's Red Flannels, Rusty Hinges, and many other famous dummies.

Started his career with a puppet named Terry in 1936 on radio's "Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour," and earned first prize. When Paul was not satisfied with the figure that Frank Marshall had carved for him, It looked like Paul, he created Jerry Mahoney by modifying a stock figure (Noseyboy) from the Frank Marshall's line of dummies. His dim-witted Knucklehead Smiff puppet debuted in 1950 on TV's "The Spiedel Show," which was later renamed "What's My Name?" was a Jerry Mahoney that "Winch" later modified himself.

Attended Columbia University, then studied and practiced acupuncture and hypnosis, the latter of which he used on his son Stacy when he underwent a tonsillectomy.

Body Cremated and Ashes scattered.

Paul Winchell was the first to design and patent a concept for an implantable, mechanical, artificial heart.