‘Voice of Tigger’ Dies at 82: “Paul Winchell, a ventriloquist, inventor and children’s TV show host best known for creating the lispy voice of Winnie the Pooh’s animated friend Tigger, has died. He was 82. Winchell died Friday morning in his sleep at his Moorpark home, Burt Du Brow, a television producer and close family friend, told the Los Angeles Times. Over six decades, Winchell was a master ventriloquist — bringing dummies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff to life on television — and an inventor who held 30 patents, including one for an early artificial heart he built in 1963. But he was perhaps best known for his work as the voice of the lovable tiger in animated versions of A.A. Milne’s ‘Winnie the Pooh’ — with his trademark ‘T-I-double grrrr-R.'” (Yahoo! News) If you haven’t shared children’s delight at the Winnie the Pooh Disney movies, Paul Winchell’s name may mean nothing to you. However, although I know I am dating myself, I am irked that that is what he is most known for. ‘Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney’ was for me the quintessential ventroloquist-and-dummy duo when I was growing up. I thought Winchell had singlehandedly invented the genre, only later becoming familiar with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Bergen was in fact Winchell’s childhood hero and he was thrilled when they finally appeared jointly. Winchell lamented the eclipse of ventriloquism: “Ventriloquism today is in a slump,” he told the AP. “I think television defeats ventriloquism. Children are so used to seeing puppets that when they see a real ventriloquist they don’t understand it. On television, everyone talks and they don’t care about the mechanics.” I beg to differ, Mr. Winchell; only exposed to ventroliquist acts on t.v. (mostly yours and Shari Lewis’), I took no lack of fascination or joy in them. Rest in peace.