April Winchell

A prolific voice actor who appeared in dozens of animated television shows and feature-length films, April Winchell brought to life an innumerable number of characters without ever directly stepping in front of a camera. Although she worked on such blockbuster movies like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988) and "Despicable Me 2" (2013), she was best known as the modern voice of the iconic Clarabelle Cow in several of Disney's modern animated shows.

April Terri Winchell was born on January 4, 1960 in New York City. She was the daughter of Nina Russell and famed 1950s ventriloquist, voice actor and comedian Paul Winchell. Having been exposed to the entertainment industry through her father, Winchell decided to follow her father's footsteps as a voice actor. She had her first break when she was just 12 years old when she voiced Connie on the children's cartoon show, "Kid Power" (ABC 1972-73), a television adaptation of the syndicated comic strip series "Wee Pals" by Morrie Turner.

By the late 1980s, Winchell started doing regular voice work. She provided the voice of Mrs. Herman in the live-action/animated movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988). She reprised the role, as well as providing the nonsensical babble of Baby Herman, in two of the spin-off animated shorts, "Tummy Trouble" (1989) and "Roller Coaster Rabbit" (1990).

In fall of 1992, Disney debuted an animated series centered around Goofy titled "Goof Troop" (Disney Channel 1992-93). Winchell displayed her vocal talents as Peg Pete, the obnoxious wife of Goofy's villainous rival, Pete. With her foot firmly planted on Disney's door, Winchell found herself busy working on many of the animated giant's projects.

Right after "Goof Troop," the character of Dyl Piquel was the next one Winchell brought to life in Disney's "Bonkers," a cartoon about an anthropomorphic bobcat who was a cop. Her next big Disney project was "Mighty Ducks" (ABC 1996-97), a very loose cartoon adaptation of the live-action movie of the same name. "Mighty Ducks" followed the story of extraterrestrial humanoid ducks who landed on earth to play ice hockey. Winchell voiced Tanya Vanderflock, the brainy duck of the bunch who often sounded like she had allergies.

From ice hockey-playing ducks, Winchell jumped into the animated world of elementary school in "Recess" (ABC 1997-2001). The now-accomplished voice actress channeled her inner cranky spinster in her role as Ms. Finster, the authoritarian assistant teacher who was disliked by many of the children attending Third Street Elementary School.

Winchell enjoyed the wicked hilarity of playing a cartoon villain, especially when she brought back one of Disney's most iconic antagonists, Cruella de Vil, in the TV adaptation of "101 Dalmatians" (Toon Disney 1997-98). In 1999, Disney approached Winchell to bring back one of Walt Disney's original characters, Clarabelle Cow. She first stepped in Clarabelle's shoes on "Mickey Mouse Works" (ABC 1999-2000), a half-hour show filled with several animated shorts not unlike the ones created during the golden age of Disney.

Although production of "Mickey Mouse Works" lasted only a year and a half, Winchell's next stint as Clarabelle Cow in "House of Mouse" (ABC 2001-2003) ran for three seasons. In "House of Mouse," Mickey Mouse and his friends run a movie theater house, where Clarabelle Cow acts as a gossip talk show host.

Afterwards, Disney tapped Winchell again to join Mickey Mouse and the rest of the gang for the educational primetime show, "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" (Disney Channel 2006-2011, Disney Junior 2011-2013). The show focused on encouraging children to develop their problem solving skills, with Winchell voicing Clarabelle Cow once again for at least 40 episodes.

While Disney kept her busy at the "Clubhouse," Winchell was also involved in numerous other projects, which included "King of the Hill" (Fox 1997-2010), "Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated" (Cartoon Network 2010-2013), and the summer blockbuster hit "Despicable Me 2."

In 2013, Disney debuted a new animated series, "Wander Over Yonder" (Disney Channel 2013-16). On the show, Winchell voiced Sylvia, the loyal steed of an over-enthusiastic intergalactic traveller named Wander, who was voiced by Jack McBrayer.