Jerry Mahoney was a wooden-headed know-nothing, but the ventriloquist who supplied the dummy’s voice, entertainer Paul Winchell (1922–2005), was no dunce. Amazingly versatile and creative, Winchell received some thirty patents during his lifetime. His most important invention was the first artificial heart, designed to sustain patients during open-heart surgery. Born in New York, Winchell took up ventriloquism as a youngster. In 1936, he won first place on a radio talent contest, which led to his start in vaudeville. Winchell got his own TV program in 1947. He also appeared regularly on top variety shows, landed acting roles on hits such as The Beverly Hillbillies and Perry Mason, and voiced numerous cartoon characters. Interested in medicine and hypnosis, Winchell enrolled at Columbia University in 1959. After observing open-heart surgeries, Winchell built a prototype of an artificial heart, for which he received a patent in 1963. When he learned of the University of Utah’s efforts to develop an artificial heart, he donated his patent to further the work. Incorporating many of Winchell’s ideas, Dr. Robert Jarvik perfected the Jarvik-7, which was implanted in patient Barney Clark in 1982.
