April Winchell
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April Winchell (born on January 4, 1962 in New York, New York) is an American voice actress, radio talk show host, and commentator living in Santa Monica, California. She is the daughter of American ventriloquist Paul Winchell.
As a voice actress, she has appeared in hundreds of television shows such as Recess, Goof Troop, House of Mouse (as the voice of Clarabelle Cow), Pepper Ann, The Legend of Tarzan (taking over for Rosie O'Donnell) and 101 Dalmatians (as the voice of Cruella De Vil). She has also voiced roles in numerous animated films, including Antz, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. She was known for years as the Glendale Federal Bank lady; a cranky and cynical woman mollified by the service at her new bank. The success of those local commercials resulted in a stint writing for the sitcom, Roseanne.
As a radio talk show host, she hosted a weekend program on KFI AM 640 for three years, and her show enjoyed the fastest growing audience in the history of the station. She currently is a regular commentator on the Ask Mr. KABC program on KABC AM 790.
April also has a history 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. The two also dated briefly.
Additionally, Winchell performed her one woman 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.
Winchell also created Radio Savant Productions, a successful radio advertising production company, in 1996. Since that time, Winchell has won every advertising award in the world, including Cannes, Clio, The $100,000 Mercury Award and The International Grand Andy. It was the first and only time the Andy was given to a radio commercial.
Winchell did not speak publicly about her father's 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 openly he lambasted his ex-wife, Nina Russell, and other family members.
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 "Glow in the Dark" so one could "glow along" with April. April has been a frequent panelist on What's My Line at the Acme Comedy Theatre in Hollywood.
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.
She is currently in the process of completing Dummy Dearest, her recollections of growing up with her famous ventriloquist father.
