The Original Voice of Tigger was 'Very Complicated' and Struggled with Bipolar Disorder, Daughter Shares Angela AndaloroJanuary 21, 2026 at 1:00 AM 0 Michael Ochs Archives/Getty; Entertainment Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo Paul Winchell (left), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Paul Winchell originally voiced Tigger in Disney's WinniethePooh featurettes and won a Grammy Award for his performance in Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too Paul's daughter, April, appeared on Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia where she discussed her dad's complicated legacy and struggles with bipolar disorder April explained how...
- - The Original Voice of Tigger was 'Very Complicated' and Struggled with Bipolar Disorder, Daughter Shares
Angela AndaloroJanuary 21, 2026 at 1:00 AM
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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty; Entertainment Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo
Paul Winchell (left), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger -
Paul Winchell originally voiced Tigger in Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh featurettes and won a Grammy Award for his performance in Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too
Paul's daughter, April, appeared on Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia where she discussed her dad's complicated legacy and struggles with bipolar disorder
April explained how not receiving a diagnosis until later in life changed his trajectory
Tigger was a light-hearted and carefree character, but the man who brought him to life was more "complicated."
Paul Winchell was the original voice of the beloved Winnie the Pooh character and an accomplished ventriloquist and inventor. As his daughter, April Winchell, explained in her appearance on Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia, his life outside the voice booth was full of darker moments.
Paul and April had a close relationship during her early upbringing, but that changed when the voice actor and April's mother, writer Nina Russell, got divorced.
"My dad got to a point where he didn't really want to be around me because he said I reminded him of my mother and he thought I looked too much like her," she explained.
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Nina Russell and Paul Winchell
"By the time I was 13, we did not talk anymore because it got very acrimonious between them."
April struggled with their estrangement throughout her teenage years, calling it "a loss." After she got married at 22 in 1982, she decided to reach out and try to make amends. The two got together for what April hoped was the beginning of many family gatherings.
"He barbecued… and he had a joystick-controlled video camera… and he did an interview with me that I still have," she recalled.
There was one memorable hiccup in the night, April said. "He zoomed in on my face, and he goes, 'God, you look just like your mother.' I was like, 'Uh-oh. Here we go.' "
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Paul Winchell performing in 1949
While she was hopeful for a continued connection, sadly, the two fell back into non-communication.
April herself got into voice acting and shares that when she worked on Goof Troop in 1992, Jim Cummings — who had started sharing the responsibility of voicing Tigger with Paul — encouraged her to reach out again.
"Jim Cummings would come to Goof Troop sessions with me and would say, 'My God, I saw your dad. I just worked with your dad. He wants to see you. He's always talking about you. ' "
She gave it a shot, only to find that Paul was "angry the minute I reached out." It was during that time that he disclosed his bipolar diagnosis.
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April Winchell
"He said, 'You know, I'm medicated now. I'm on this bipolar medication and I'm doing much better,' " she recalled.
While April respected it, she still found the need to lay a specific boundary down for the relationship moving forward. She recalled telling Paul, "If you want to have a relationship going forward, we need to have a relationship that doesn't include my mom."
Those terms couldn't be met by Paul. The two never spoke again, with April learning about his 2005 death from the radio, as did her siblings, Stacy Paul and Stephanie Winchell.
"My father had made the request that none of his children be told that he died because he wanted us to see it on the news," April revealed.
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Paul Winchell performing with Lucille Ball
"That was the only time I think I cried over it." she added. "I was so stunned that there was still… so much desire to cause pain."
Despite that pain, April has found her own way to honor her father's legacy and contributions to entertainment.
"Twice a year... I clean my dad's star [on the Hollywood Walk of Fame]," she said, noting, "It's not an award for Father of the Year. It's an award for his contribution... He left the world better than he found it — which is not something we can all say."
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Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: January 21, 2026 at 06:09AM on Source: MORNING MAG
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