It might come as a surprise that Paul Winchell, the man whose voice was known to millions of children as the voice of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, was an accomplished inventor who was the first to design and patent a concept for an implantable, mechanical, artificial heart.
Winchell started in vaudeville as a ventriloquist. Originally a stutterer, he worked on his craft in school, built his own dummy and eventually got good throwing his voice. After success on stage, he starred in television's The Paul Winchell/Jerry Mahoney Show, with his dummy, Jerry Mahoney.
Later in his career, Winchell became a voice-over actor for cartoons on the Disney Winnie the Pooh film and TV cartoons.
Simultaneously, Winchell went back to school and studied pre-med at Colombia University. He then went on to study acupuncture and medical hypnotism.
The “Winch” eventually got a job at the University of Utah working with surgeons, one of whom was Henry J. Heimlich (creator of the Heimlich Maneuver). Winchell, assisted by Heimlich, developed and patented a mechanical artificial heart implanted in the chest cavity.
Winchell had 30 patents to his name including the disposable razor, a fountain pen with a retractable tip and an “invisible” garter belt, to name a few.
He continued to innovate, write, and occasionally perform until he died on June 24, 2005, at the age of 82. Thank you, Mr. Paul “T-I-double-g-ER, That spells Tigger" Winchell!
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