About Paul Winchel Paul Winchell, born Paul Winchin on December 21, 1922 in New York City to Clara and Sol Wilchin in a strict Orthodox Jewish family setting. "Winch," as called by his friends and 'dummies', attended the Columbia University, New York City in 1959.

Paul Winchell steadily dated Dorothy Movitz whom he married, in spite of Jewish upbringing, had extramarital encounters with Jean Freeman. Paul and Dorothy divorced, he married Freeman as he unsuccessfully pursued acting in films.

Doing ventriloquism acts in Vaudeville to survive, Winchell approached NBC in New York to do a Howdy Doody like show with puppet pals Jerry Mahoney and Knuchklehead Smith. With marionette Doody's success, the network took a flyer in the summer of 1954 with Winchell on a late afternoon Sunday slot, as opposed to Saturday kiddie morning tradition. The show attained decent, not great ratings following the top rated "Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour." Winchell-Mahoney did not survive the 60's.

Paul Winchell was also a electro-mechanical engineer of sorts and attained patents on certain types of drives.

He died on Friday, June 24, 2005, in Moorpark; cause of death, "an illness," never specifically named.

  

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