Paul Winchell Biography

Fast Facts

• Won a Grammy Award with Sebastian Cabot and Sterling Holloway for their recording of "Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger Too" in 1974
• Made his first radio appearance on "Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour" when he was only 13 years old
• Began playing Tigger in 1968 in "Winnie-the-Pooh and the Blustery Day" and continued voicing the character in TV and film until 1999, when the role was taken on by Jim Cummings
• Best known as a ventriloquist, comedian, and voice actor who was the original voice of Winnie-the-Pooh's friend Tigger
• His dummy sidekicks were Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, both of whom appeared with him on a number of TV series during the 1950s and 1960s
• In addition to Tigger he voiced several other cartoon characters, including Boomer in "The Fox and the Hound," the Siamese cat in "Aristocats," and Gargamel in "The Smurfs․"
• Tigger's catchphrase, "Ta-ta for now," was improvised on a suggestion from his third wife, who was British
• Was also an inventor and developed 30 patents during his life, including one for an early artificial heart that he donated to the University of Utah