Of course, Winchell, also landed some commercial work, most notably as Tootsie Pop's Mr. Owl, but he has another claim to fame that is far less known than his voice acting credits. According to Lemelson MIT, Winchell was a man of varied interests, was a Doctor of Acupuncture, and even worked as a medical hypnotist. In the 1950s, Winchell met Dr. Henry Heimlich who invented the Heimlich maneuver. The two became friends. At one point, Heimlich invited Winchell to sit in on and observe several surgeries. This experience gave Winchell an idea, which led him to invent an artificial heart that keeps a patient's blood pumping while they undergo surgery. Winchell designed a prototype and received a patent for it in the early 1960s. He later donated the patent to a team that took those ideas and eventually developed the first implanted artificial heart, known as the Jarvik-7.
Winchell was a prolific inventor and beyond his original artificial heart patent, he also held patents for a wide range of inventions, including a disposable razor and a flameless lighter. Winchell also came up with an idea for a way to combat world hunger by devising a process that farmed tilapia which he called, fittingly enough, "The Tilapia Project."
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