John Fiedler
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| John Fiedler | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Donald Fiedler February 3, 1925 Platteville, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | June 25, 2005 (aged 80) Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation | voice actor, character actor |
John Donald Fiedler (February 3, 1925 – June 25, 2005) was an American voice actor and character actor in stage, film, television and radio. Slight, balding, and bespectacled, with a piping voice his career stretched forty years but he is perhaps best remembered for two roles: the voice of Piglet in Disney's many Winnie the Pooh productions and the role of Mr. Peterson, nervous patient on The Bob Newhart Show.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Platteville, Wisconsin, Fiedler moved with his family to Shorewood, Wisconsin at the age of 5, where he attended Shorewood High School.[1]
He began his career in New York City, working on the radio comedy The Aldrich Family as sidekick Homer Brown, and making his film debut in 12 Angry Men (1957), as the nervous Juror #2. Most of his subsequent roles were as gentle or nervous types, though occasionally he broke out of the mold, notably in the original Star Trek episode "Wolf in the Fold," as an official possessed by Jack the Ripper.
[edit] Career
On Broadway, Fiedler was in the original casts of A Raisin in the Sun (as housing committee representative Lindner, a part he would recreate in both the 1961 film version and the 1988 TV version) and The Odd Couple (as poker player Vinnie), reprising both roles for the film versions. Other on-camera work included roles in the films True Grit and The Cannonball Run, plus many guest spots on TV series, from Bewitched and Get Smart to The Rockford Files and The Twilight Zone. He had a recurring guest role on Kolchak: The Night Stalker as morgue attendant Gordy "The Ghoul" Spangler. He also played Mr. Peterson, one of Bob's regular patients, on the TV series "The Bob Newhart Show".
He was heard in the Disney features The Rescuers, The Fox and the Hound, Robin Hood, The Emperor's New Groove, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie, Pooh's Heffalump Movie, and his last film Kronk's New Groove.
[edit] Death
Fiedler died of cancer on June 25, 2005 in Englewood, New Jersey at the Lillian Booth Actors' Home, a residence for retired entertainers sponsored by the Actors' Fund. Fiedler was never married, and was survived by a sister and a brother.[2]
Coincidentally, Paul Winchell, the voice of Tigger in Winnie-the-Pooh projects, died June 24, 2005, the day before Fiedler's death.
[edit] References
- ^ O'Donnell, Michelle. "John Fiedler, 80, Stage Actor and Film Voice of Pooh's Piglet, Dies", New York Times, June 27, 2005. Accessed December 15, 2007. "He graduated from Shorewood High School in 1943 and enlisted in the United States Navy, serving stateside until World War II's end."
- ^ Bernstein, Adam. "Actor John Fiedler Dies; Was Piglet's Voice in 'Pooh' Films", The Washington Post, June 28, 2005. Accessed December 15, 2007. "John Fiedler, 80, a stage, film and television actor who excelled at meek or nervous roles and was personally chosen by Walt Disney to play the voice of Piglet in Winnie the Pooh films, died June 25 at the Lillian Booth Actors' Home in Englewood, N.J."
[edit] External links
- John Fiedler at the Internet Movie Database
- John Fiedler at the Voice Chasers Database
- John Fiedler article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
