April Winchell
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| April Winchell | |
|---|---|
 April Winchell, Los Angeles, California, June 2004. |
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| Born | April Terri Winchell January 4, 1960 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Website | |
| http://www.aprilwinchell.com/ | |
April Terri Winchell (born on January 4, 1960 in New York City) is an American actress, writer, voice actor, talk radio host, and commentator. She is the daughter of ventriloquist, voice actor and comedian Paul Winchell.[1]
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[edit] Acting
As a voice actress, she has been heard in hundreds of animated television programs, such as King of The Hill, Phineas & Ferb, Pucca, Kim Possible, Recess (as Miss Muriel Finster), Goof Troop (as Peg Pete), Disney's House of Mouse and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (as Clarabelle Cow), Pepper Ann (as Lydia Pearson),[2] The Legend of Tarzan (taking over for Rosie O'Donnell as Terk) and 101 Dalmatians: The Series (as Cruella De Vil), SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron (as Molly Mange). She has also voiced roles in numerous films, including Antz, Who Framed Roger Rabbit,[1] and Rob Zombie's The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. Winchell portrayed the "Glendale Federal Bank" lady – a cranky, cynical customer mollified by the service at her new bank – in a series of highly successful radio commercials, which Winchell wrote and directed herself.[1] She was also considered for the part of Regan in the Exorcist until she fell ill and was taken out of consideration.[3]
[edit] Radio
Besides her many contributions to radio advertising as a performer, writer and director, Winchell also hosted a radio talk show program on KFI, a Los Angeles radio station. This weekend program aired for three years, and enjoyed the fastest growing audience in the history of the station. Subsequent to the end of this program in November 2002, she appeared semi-regularly on the Ask Mr. KABC program, on KABC, an AM station also in Los Angeles – until the show ended in February 2007.
In 2005, Winchell signed a deal with U.S. pay-TV service HBO to develop and host a show on Sirius Satellite Radio. However on her official website on May 3, 2006, she announced that negotiations had stalled out between HBO and Sirius, leaving her program in limbo.
On March 16, 2007, she returned to semi-regular radio appearances on The Marc "Mr. K" Germain Show on KTLK-AM (the new show hosted by the former Mr. KABC) and appeared twice a month. (Her appearances on Germain's show are available at her website in addition to KTLK's website.) During March, Winchell was "banned for life" from KABC (AM) in Los Angeles at the behest of ABC radio host Bill O'Reilly, over a retelling of an occurrence she dubbed "Croissantgate" (KABC provided Bill O'Reilly with croissants that were not fresh enough for his taste, causing a commotion at the station).
[edit] Theater
As a musical theatre actress, she starred as Ado Annie in the Columbia Artists revival of Oklahoma, and also appeared opposite Kevin Spacey in Gypsy.
Additionally, Winchell wrote and starred as "Sheila Sands" in her show at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles to sold out crowds. The show was produced by Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner, who discovered her at Cafe Largo in Hollywood.
She has also been a frequent panelist on the live-stage version of What's My Line at the Acme Comedy Theatre in Hollywood.
[edit] Advertising
In 1992, Winchell and her then-husband Mick Kuisel formed Radio Savant Productions, a radio advertising production company.[4] Since that time, Winchell has many awards including Cannes, Clio, The $100,000 Mercury Award[5] and The International Grand Andy (bestowed by The Association of Independent Commercial Producers) – it was the only time the Andy was given for radio.
[edit] Internet
Winchell's official website chronicles the actress' activities, including her professional, personal and romantic life.
Winchell also owns and operates the site Regretsy under the pseudonym of "Helen Killer".[6] The site launched in October 2009, and within four days had received nearly 90 million hits.[citation needed] The huge viral success caught the attention of Random House, who won a bidding war to publish Regretsy[7] on April 6, 2010. Based on the Regretsy web site, the book features humorous and bizarre crafts and artwork from several different artists, as well as essays about Winchell's personal life, childhood and own crafting failures. As of March 1, 2012, the Regretsy site has raised over $180,000 for charitable causes.[8] The popularity of Regretsy's "Not Remotely Steampunk" section even inspired a viral "chap-hop" music video.[9]
[edit] Personal life
Winchell is the daughter of American voice actor, inventor and ventriloquist Paul Winchell.[4] In her weblog writings and appearances on radio, she describes her childhood with many references to the great talent of her father as well as the many disturbing incidents owing to his mental health issues. Ms. Winchell did not speak publicly about his mental illness and drug use for many years, due to the "tremendous responsibility" she felt to his fans, and the people who had fond childhood memories of his work from the 1960s through the late 1980s. But her silence ended in March 2004 after her father published his autobiography Winch, in which he openly criticized his ex-wife, Nina Russel, and other family members.
In broadcasts of her KFI show, on her web diary and several other websites, April Winchell revealed that she and Kevin Spacey dated for a while after high school, during the run of the Gypsy musical, and went to New York together.[10][11] She and Spacey remained friends ever since.
On August 19, 2005 she announced on her website that she was diagnosed with cancer and underwent successful surgery and radiation treatment. To promote solidarity during her radiation treatment, she issued her own rubber wristbands. Where Lance Armstrong's wrist bands were yellow, April's were "Glow in the Dark" so one could "glow along" with April.
Winchell is also widely known as a supporter of various charity causes, including Project Angel Food, a Los Angeles-based service providing meals for homebound people living with AIDS. Her website, Regretsy, generates charitable funds through selling of Regretsy merchandise. On, April 17, 2011, Winchell created April's Army, one of the largest selling teams on Etsy. The Army's members run monthly campaigns, and all the profits gathered from their store go to a selected Regretsy member who has encountered hardships.
On December 5, 2011, Regretsy began a Secret Santa program, collecting donations for presents for needy children. Regretsy raised so much money so quickly that Paypal froze the Regretsy account - as well as Winchell's unrelated personal account - for six months in order to "investigate." As this move effectively destroyed Christmas for 200 needy families, public outcry was massive, resulting in Regretsy becoming a worldwide trending topic on Twitter. Ater publicly apologizing, Paypal reinstated Winchell's accounts and donated $20,000 to the families she was raising money for.[12]
Winchell has provided the award winning radio and television advertising for Big Bear Mountain Resorts since the early 1990s. In 2007, she began appearing in their television ads as a reporter-on-the-scene dealing with a hapless studio anchorman.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Film
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Sinton, Peter (August 14, 1996), "GLENDALE FEDERAL BASHES BIG BANKS / The Brains, Voice Behind the Barbs / April Winchell – Glen Fed's radio warrior", San Francisco Chronicle, http://articles.sfgate.com/1996-08-14/business/17781021_1_paul-winchell-glendale-federal-bank-wells-customers, retrieved September 24, 2011
- ^ Childs, T. Mike (2004). Rocklopedia fakebandica. Macmillan. p. 72. ISBN 0-312-32944-X, ISBN 978-0-312-32944-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ogs6dQaSEZQC&pg=PA72&ei=nQn1Se6hBofqkwSuhdCQCg.
- ^ 5 things you don't know about April Winchell, Mr. KABC Radio Show audio archive, accessed February 8, 2007
- ^ a b Oakner, Larry (2002). And now a few laughs from our sponsor: the best of fifty years of radio commercials. John Wiley and Sons. p. 156. ISBN 0-471-20218-5, ISBN 978-0-471-20218-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=f8mNyoeb78oC&pg=PA155&ei=4Qf1SaLNLYaokAT5kdV5#PPA156,M1.
- ^ Oakner, Larry (2002). And now a few laughs from our sponsor: the best of fifty years of radio commercials. John Wiley and Sons. p. 155. ISBN 0-471-20218-5, ISBN 978-0-471-20218-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=f8mNyoeb78oC&pg=PA155&ei=4Qf1SaLNLYaokAT5kdV5#PPA155,M1.
- ^ Greenfield, Jeremy (November 20, 2009). "Regretsy Creator Revealed: April Winchell Discusses New Book Deal". Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/11/20/regretsy-creator-revealed-april-winchell-discusses-her-new-book-deal/. Retrieved January 8, 2010.>
- ^ April Winchell “Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF”. ISBN 978-0-345-52318-1
- ^ Winchell, April (August 01, 2011). "A New Record". http://www.regretsy.com/2011/08/01/a-new-record//.>
- ^ Pikedevant (Nov 29, 2011). "Just Glue Some Gears On It (And Call It Steampunk)". Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA. Retrieved December 4, 2011. "Inspired by the category 'Things That Are Not Steampunk' on Regretsy"
- ^ April Winchell. "Sexual secrets revealed". http://www.aprilwinchell.com/2003/07/11/kabc-friday-july-11-2003/#more%20%20-925.
- ^ April Winchell. "memoir contest". http://www.aprilwinchell.com/2006/07/28/kabc-friday-july-28-2006/#more%20-898.
- ^ Killer, Helen. "CATS 1, KIDS 0". Regretsy. http://www.regretsy.com/2011/12/05/cats-1-kids-0/. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
[edit] External links
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