Spoiler : Winchell was a remarkable man, a talented ventriloquist and he also invented the first artificial heart, believe it or not. He overcame a horrid childhood to have great success as an adult. Here is something I wrote a few years ago about Winchell and his life. Paul Winchell was the first ventriloquist I remember seeing as very young child. Winchell had been a great admirer of Edgar Bergen and tried to emulate him. He got his start in show business on Major Bowes Amateur Hour doing his impersonation of Bergen and Charlie McCarthy and was declared the evening's winner. Soon after he began to get bookings and was on his way. One can readily see the Bergen influence. Charlie McCarthy becomes Jerry Mahoney and Mortimer Snerd becomes Knucklehead Smiff. And to think for so many years I thought it SmiTH. Indeed Winchell went on to become a better technician than Bergen, though Bergen was the better comedian. Winchell invented the artificial heart that Dr. Jarvik later used. And Winchell later on became a Doctor of Acupucture. On his own website In a section entitled JERRY and ME, he states that he was born to Sol and Clara Wilchin in a Jewish ghetto, endured poverty, polio and a very abusive mother, a woman to whom his mild mannered father unfortunately gave sway. And here is a direct quote from Winchell about his brutal youth. "There wasn’t much about my childhood that I enjoyed. I think I was majorly abused by my mother, while my Father, a good person in general, did not have the courage to intervene. I remember her making such warm, thoughtful statements as this: “You are a stupid boy who can never do anything right. You’re a lame piece of sh*t that trips over your own feet. You’ll never amount to anything because you’re not clever enough. You’ll always be a bum like your father”. Now one of the reasons I did “trip over my own feet” was that I had polio as a child, so her comments were not appreciated. Even then, I realized, to a degree, her excessive cruelty."

Spoiler : Happy birthday to Paul Winchell, born on December 21, 1922.

Spoiler : Happy birthday to Paul Winchell, born on December 21, 1922.

Spoiler : He helped develop an artificial heart. Pretty smart ventriloquist!