Death in the Hundred Acre Wood

Paul Winchell, perhaps best known as the voice of Tigger, died in his sleep last Friday morning. He also voiced Gargamel on the Smurfs and assorted other characters. He credits his wife as the inspiration for his creation of the famous TTFN. He was also quite the inventor, having patents for the artificial heart, a disposable razor, a flameless cigarette lighter and an invisible garter belt.

John Fielder, who voiced Piglet, died on Saturday. He appeared in the Odd Couple and on the Bob Neuhart Show, among other work.

It appears that the voices of Roo and Christopher Robin are the only ones left alive from the original three Pooh shorts (in which two people voiced Roo, and a seperate person played Christopher Robin in each; I have no data on the death of any of the five). Howard Morris, the voice of Gopher, died last month (he also did voices on Ducktales, Garfield and Friends, was the voice of Beetle Bailey and Gen. Halftrack (on a show where he worked with the great Paul Frees), and many others (including work with that other great voice actor, Mel Blanc).

Along with Thurl Ravenscroft (died May 22, voiced Tony the Tiger, sang "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and was lead vocalist in "Grim Grinning Ghosts" (from Disneyland's (and the other Disney parks') Haunted Mansion)), some good vocal talent has been lost recently.