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# Puppetry Center Director Recalls Friendship With Voice of Tigger Paul Winchell
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/123107-story/
- Published: 2007-12-31T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T04:39:53.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By — Kevin Herrera S* didn’t just sit on his knee. It was just fantastic. I just remember thinking, ‘I know that guy’s not alive, but in a way, he was. It was my first dichotomy.”

Little did he know at the time, but Meltzer would eventually meet Winchell and become friends with the voice of Tigger on the “Winnie the Pooh” series. The two became so close that Winchell gave his last performance at the Puppetry Center before he died in 2005.

“It was such an honor to have him here,” Meltzer said of his idol. “It was something very special … one of the highlights.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 31, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/123107.pdf?ref=smdp.com)