John Fiedler


John Donald Fiedler was an American actor. Recognizable for his distinctive voice, Fiedler's career lasted more than 55 years in stage, film, television and radio.
Fiedler was typecast beginning early in his career for delicate, quiet, nerdy characters, although he also played sneaky villains. His roles include the meek Juror No. 2 in [12 Angry Men (1957 film)|12 Angry Men] ; the seemingly benign gentleman who tries to prevent the Younger family from moving into a whites-only neighborhood in A [Raisin in the Sun (1961 film)|A Raisin in the Sun] ; the mean department store manager Mr. Dundee in the Twilight Zone episode "The [Night of the Meek (The Twilight Zone, 1959)|The Night of the Meek]" ; the voice of Piglet in The [Walt Disney Company|Disney]'s Winnie the Pooh productions ; Vinnie, one of Oscar's poker cronies, in the film [The Odd Couple (film)|The Odd Couple] ; and Emil Peterson, the hen-pecked milquetoast husband in The Bob Newhart Show.

Early life

Fiedler was born in Platteville, Wisconsin, a son of beer salesman Donald Fiedler and his wife Margaret. He was of German and Irish descent. His family moved to Shorewood, Wisconsin, when he was five, 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.

Career

After his discharge from the Navy, Fiedler moved to Manhattan and attended the Neighborhood Playhouse, where his classmates included Tony Randall, James Doohan, Leslie Nielsen, Richard Boone and Joanne Woodward. He appeared as Homer Brown on the radio comedy The Aldrich Family, as Cadet Alfie Higgins on the 1950s TV show Tom Corbett, Space Cadet and, in his 1957 film debut, as Juror No. 2 in 12 Angry Men. Although best known for his portrayals of meek or high-strung characters, Fiedler occasionally played against type in roles such as the presidential assassin in an episode of I Spy, a school principal moonlighting as a pimp on Vegas, and Mr. Hengist, a Chief Administrator possessed by the spirit of Jack the Ripper in the Star Trek episode "Wolf in the Fold".
File:A Raisin in the Sun 1959.JPG|thumb|250px|From the Broadway play Raisin in the Sun. L–R: Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Glynn Turman, Sidney Poitier and John Fiedler
Fiedler was in the original cast of the Broadway play A Raisin in the Sun as housing committee representative Lindner, a role he reprised in both the 1961 film version and the 1989 TV version. He appears in the film The Odd Couple as poker player Vinnie; he also appears on the TV series adaptation of 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 move, and as the cruel owner of a movie-star dog. He also appears in the films Harper Valley PTA and The Cannonball Run.
He appears three times in a recurring role on Kolchak: The Night Stalker as morgue attendant Gordy "The Ghoul" Spangler. He plays 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 include Columbo, Peter Gunn, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, [Cannon (TV series)|Cannon], My Favorite Martian, The Munsters, Bewitched, Get Smart, A Touch of Grace, The Rockford Files, Three's Company, Quincy, M.E., The Golden Girls, Banacek and Cheers.
Fiedler worked frequently for Disney Productions">The Walt Disney Company">Disney Productions. During pre-production on Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Walt Disney had heard Fiedler's voice on television and selected him as Piglet. He reprised the role in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, The [Tigger Movie], Piglet's Big Movie, Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo, Pooh's Heffalump Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie. His voice is heard in further Disney films, including Robin Hood, The Rescuers, The [Fox and the Hound (film)|The Fox and the Hound] and The Emperor's New Groove. He also appeared in Disney's live-action films Rascal and The Shaggy D.A.. His final film voice was the character Rudy in Kronk's New Groove. Fiedler was also the narrator of several McDonaldland commercials during the 1980s.

Death

Fiedler died of cancer on June 25, 2005, at age 80, in Englewood, New Jersey, at the Lillian Booth Actors Home, a residence for retired entertainers sponsored by the Actors' Fund of America. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered on Long Island, New York. Fiedler died a day after fellow Winnie-the-Pooh co-star Paul Winchell, who supplied the voice of Tigger.

Filmography

Film