Here's the best article I've come across about Bush's speech last night and our current dilemma in Iraq. It's by William Saletan, and he likens the U.S. position of open-ended support of Iraq to domestic welfare programs that promise ongoing support to those who won't help themselves. By the way, there's a very good reason […]
Canadian cartoonist and puzzle master Owen McCarron died on Monday at the age of 76. He was a longtime employee of the Halifax Herald Limited, which featured his cartoons and games in several newspapers published in Nova Scotia. He also published on his own, countless commercial giveaway comics and puzzle collections that featured his work. […]
There's a short article over on Slate about what they do when the voice of a cartoon character passes away. I was among those interviewed for the piece. […]
Somewhere down this page, April Winchell writes about her complex, contentious relationship with her father, Paul. I obviously don't want to get in the middle of a family matter but people are writing me to ask if what she says is true or exaggerated or wacko or what. I'll just say that I don't think […]
Some websites are making much of the near-simultaneous deaths of two members of the Disney Winnie the Pooh cast: Paul Winchell, the voice of Tigger, on Friday…John Fiedler, who voiced Piglet, on Saturday. It's actually worse than that. They're forgetting that Howard Morris, who provided the voice of Gopher in the first few Pooh featurettes, […]
Ray Arthur sends this message… I too was in awe of Winchell as a kid, and had growing respect for his inventions as I got older and understood his contributions on a whole 'nother level. I remember as a young child (with a limited understanding of ventriloquism) having my father explain how great Edgar Bergen […]
For the last few years, the best CDs of recorded Broadway-type material and show tunes have been produced by a pal of mine named Bruce Kimmel. He worked for a time for Varese Sarabande and was responsible for some excellent material there. Now, he's launched his own label and it's called Kritzerland. You can hear […]
Interesting that most of the obits now appearing for Paul Winchell are headlined something like, "Paul Winchell, voice of Tigger in 'Winnie the Pooh,' dies at 82" and then the fact that he was a pioneer of early television, the most admired ventriloquist of his time and the inventor of the artificial heart are kind […]
The first newspaper obit I've seen for Paul Winchell. [Los Angeles Times, registration perhaps necessary] […]
An amazing man died yesterday at the age of 82. Paul Winchell was a pioneer of early television, appearing on hundreds of shows with his wooden-headed friends, Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. He was a great ventriloquist — maybe the best ever — but he was also a great all-around entertainer and inventor. Paul was […]
The overnight Saturday Night Live rerun that airs tomorrow morning is the one from 2/10/79 hosted by Cicely Tyson with musical guests Talking Heads. It's not, as I recall, a very memorable episode. This coming week on GSN's What's My Line? reruns: Tomorrow morning's Mystery Guest is Gene Kelly. Monday morning, it's Sal Mineo. Tuesday […]
Here's a recent interview with Peter Palmer, who had the title role in both the Li'l Abner Broadway show and the movie of it. […]
If you couldn't get through to those links to the Al Franken Show interview of Ed Klein, here's a better link. And if you don't want to listen, here's a transcript. I found it fascinating, and not because I'm that wild about Hillary Clinton — I'm still hoping she isn't the candidate — but because […]
June Foray was honored this evening with a celebration at the Motion Picture Academy, from whence I have just returned. It was to honor June's many years of service to the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch. The Academy is, as you may know, a somewhat political entity with various folks lobbying for more attention […]
Item before last, I mentioned the evisceration of author Ed Klein on today's Al Franken Show. Here's a link to a site where you can download a couple of WMA files with the audio. […]