Actor John Fiedler dies at 80

Actor whose high-pitched tones found him fame as the voice of Piglet in the Disney cartoons ...


Little voice ... John Fiedler in 1981.
Photograph: Sara Krulwich/AP

John Fiedler, the actor whose distinctive high-pitched tones made him perfect for the voice of Piglet in Disney's Winnie the Pooh films, died on Saturday. He was 80.

According to Hollywood legend, Fiedler was hand-picked by Walt Disney himself for the role of Pooh Bear's fretful best friend. Disney is said to have overheard a show in which the actor appeared and said of his voice: "That's Piglet."

Before starting work on the Pooh films in the 1960s, Fiedler had played a juror in Sidney Lumet's court drama Twelve Angry Men and appeared in the Sidney Poitier-starring drama A Raisin in the Sun. He made appearances in dozens of films and was working right up until this year, when he voiced Piglet once more in Pooh's Heffalump movie.

In the last decade he was mainly involved in the industry through his involvement with Disney or on other animated projects. In 2004 he provided Piglet's shrill tones in Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo, and in 2003 was the star of Piglet's Big Movie.

John Donald Fiedler was born on February 3 in 1925 in Platteville, Wisconsin, the eldest of three children.

His brother James said Fiedler's natural speaking voice was higher than that of most men, but added that he still had to stretch his vocal chords to reach Piglet's squeaky soprano.

He is survived by his brother, a sister, Mary Dean, and several nephews and nieces.