John Fiedler


John Donald Fiedler was an American actor and voice actor. His career lasted more than 55 years in stage, film, television and radio. Among his best-known roles are the nervous Juror #2 in 12 Angry Men ; the benign-seeming gentleman who tries to prevent the Younger family from moving into a whites-only neighbourhood in A Raisin in the Sun ; the voice of Piglet in Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh productions; Vinnie, one of Oscar's poker buddies in the film The Odd Couple, and Mr. Emil Peterson, the hen-pecked husband on The Bob Newhart Show.

Early life

Fiedler was born in Platteville, Wisconsin, a son of Donald Fiedler, a beer salesman, and his wife Margaret. He was of German and Irish descent.
His family moved to Shorewood, Wisconsin in 1930, where he graduated from Shorewood High School in 1943. He enlisted in the United States Navy and served until the end of World War II.

Acting career

After his discharge from the Navy, Fiedler began acting in Manhattan, New York City, appearing on the radio comedy The Aldrich Family as Homer Brown. He appeared on early television and played Cadet Alfie Higgins on the 1950s show Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, and he made his film debut in 12 Angry Men, as Juror #2. Most of his roles were playing gentle or nervous individuals, though he appeared as the lawyer J. Noble Daggett in True Grit and in the original ' episode "Wolf in the Fold" as Mr. Hengist, a Chief Administrator possessed by the spirit of Jack the Ripper.
Fiedler was in the original cast of A Raisin in the Sun as housing committee representative Lindner, a role he also played in both the 1961 film version and the 1988 TV version. He appeared in the film The Odd Couple as poker player Vinnie; he also appeared on the TV series adaptation The Odd Couple, at the invitation of his friend Jack Klugman, as the manager of a hyper-security building into which Felix and Oscar temporarily moved and the owner of a racing greyhound adopted by Felix and Oscar. He also appeared in the films Harper Valley PTA and The Cannonball Run.
He appeared three times in a recurring role on ' as morgue attendant Gordy "The Ghoul" Spangler. He also played Mr. Peterson, one of Bob's regular patients, on The Bob Newhart Show, and Mr. Dundee in an episode of the Twilight Zone, "The Night of the Meek". His many other guest appearances on TV included Columbo, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, My Favorite Martian, Bewitched, Get Smart, A Touch of Grace, The Rockford Files, Quincy, M.E., The Golden Girls, Banacek and Cheers. He also appeared in The Munsters.
Fiedler worked frequently for Walt Disney Productions. His voice was heard in the Disney features Robin Hood, The Rescuers, The Fox and the Hound, and The Emperor's New Groove, and in Disneyland Records' Winnie the Pooh for President. He voiced the character Piglet for the studio's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie, Pooh's Heffalump Movie. He appeared in Disney's live-action films Rascal and The Shaggy D.A.. His last film was a voice appearance in Kronk's New Groove and in the Square Enix/Disney video game Kingdom Hearts. Fiedler was also the narrator of several McDonaldland commercials during the 1980s, including when Birdie the Early Bird learns to fly and how the Hamburglar got his stripes.

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 of America. Fiedler's friend and Winnie-the-Pooh co-star, Paul Winchell, who voiced Tigger, died the previous day due to natural causes. Fiedler was cremated and his ashes were scattered on Long Island, New York. Travis Oates has since replaced Fiedler as the voice of Piglet.

Filmography

Film