Junius Matthews
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Junius Matthews | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 12, 1890 Chicago,Illinois |
| Died | January 18, 1978 (aged 87) Los Angeles, California |
Junius Conyers Matthews (June 12, 1890 – January 18, 1978) was an American actor. He was a private in World War I before becoming an actor, and determined to become a popular radio and television actor, his career began on stage where he got his first role in a silent film called The Silent Witness (1917). He later played the role of the "Tin Woodman" on a radio version of The Wizard of Oz. His distinctive voice can be frequently heard in supporting roles in radio, particularly westerns where he was often cast as an old codger, miner, or master of the cook wagon. He played a recurring role in the short-lived series "Luke Slaughter of Tombstone" as Slaughter's sidekick, Wichita.
It wasn't until the last ten years of his life that he became widely known for his role as Rabbit in the Winnie the Pooh movies from 1966 to 1977, including the featurettes Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! (1974) In 1977, he can also be heard in the first Pooh feature film, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). He played other roles for Disney, most notably the owl, Archimedes, in Disney's The Sword in the Stone. He died in 1978 from natural causes at age 87 and was buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery.
[edit] Filmography
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) - Rabbit (voice)
- Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! (1974) - Rabbit (voice)
- Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) - Rabbit (voice)
- Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966) - Rabbit (voice)
- The Sword in the Stone (1963) - Archimedes the Owl (voice)
- The Lineup (1958)
- My Wife's Best Friend (uncredited) (1952)
- Chicken Every Sunday (uncredited) (1949)
- Black Angel (1946)
- Without Reservations (uncredited) (1946)
- Seeds of Freedom (1943)
- The Silent Witness (1917)
