John Fiedler

The Juror Who Wanted to Go to the Ballgame

John Fiedler didn't have leading-man looks, and he didn't need them. In 1957 he sat at a long table under the direction of Sidney Lumet to film 12 Angry Men, and there, surrounded by titans like Henry Fonda, he proved that a small man could steal the screen. He played Juror No. 7, a watch salesman who only cared about getting to a Yankees game on time.

His build was that of an ordinary office worker, a man who would go unnoticed at any bus stop in Wisconsin. But beneath that fragile appearance he hid absolute technical precision that allowed him to hold his own against the best actors of his generation.

He had the most unusual voice in all of Hollywood.

Before reaching the movies, he trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. There he crossed paths with Dustin Hoffman and honed his craft on Broadway stages during the 1950s. In 1959 he took part in the original production of A Raisin in the Sun, playing the only white character in the play, a role he would reprise in the 1961 film version.

That contrast between his harmless look and the firmness of his performances opened the doors of television wide for him. He worked on The Odd Couple and became a regular face on The Bob Newhart Show during the 1970s.

A Haven in the Animation World

And then Disney came calling.

In 1968, his career took a turn no one could have predicted when he was hired to voice Piglet in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. His high, slightly trembling voice fit the timid little pig of the Hundred Acre Wood perfectly. The role was no passing gig: Fiedler kept it for nearly four decades.

Despite his success in animation, he never abandoned live-action work. In 1967 he appeared in an episode of Star Trek playing a administrator possessed by the spirit of Jack the Ripper. It was one of the few moments when his sweet voice was used to convey genuine terror to viewers.

He was a method actor who didn't need big theatrics to win over the director. On set, he was known as an extremely punctual professional who rarely needed more than two takes to nail his lines.

He wasn't chasing fame on magazine covers.

During the 1990s his pace in live-action film slowed, but his work in recording studios was frantic. In 2000 he took part in The Tigger Movie, and in 2003 he had his own starring role in Piglet's Big Movie.

He died on June 25, 2005 in Englewood, New Jersey, from pancreatic cancer. He was 80 years old, and his death came just one day after that of Paul Winchell, the actor who voiced Tigger. Disney lost two of its most recognizable voices in less than twenty-four hours.