April Winchell Reveals How She Became Both Mrs. Herman and Baby Herman in Who Framed Roger Rabbit

April Winchell learned from growing up around the greats.

The daughter of legendary voice actor Paul Winchell appeared on the latest episode of Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia, where she discussed how watching her dad’s voice acting career inspired her own.

Discussing how she got her Screen Actors Guild card, April said it all started when she was around 10 years old.

“I went with [my dad] to Bell Sound. I was walking through the hallway and there were all these portraits of celebrities… and kind of quietly, I start doing those voices,” she shared.

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April was just being a kid, not realizing that someone nearby was listening — her father’s agent.

“He says to my dad, ‘Is your kid into this?’ ” she recalled, to which Paul replied, “She’s been working since she was three… yeah, she’d be into it.”

The conversation led to her audition for the animated series Kid Power. April prepared using the same tape deck she had since she was little to test all her different voices out.

“I went in, I read for it and I got it. That’s how I got my card… That little tape deck started my career.”

April got comfortable in the industry in the years that followed, leading up to the moment when she got one of her biggest roles, as Baby Herman and Mrs. Herman in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

“My agent said, ‘Do you want to read for this thing called Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and I said, ‘That sounds kind of stupid,’ ” she laughs.

Her agent reassured her it was an interesting prospect, and the audition would be in front of director Robert Zemeckis. At the audition, she was encouraged to channel classic Hollywood actress Margaret Dumont, known for her work across several Marx Brothers movies.

“They said, ‘We want you to sound like Margaret Dumont,’ and… because of my dad’s… library that I poured over as a child, I knew that was the woman from the Marx Brothers,’ ” she shared. The actress, 66, was born nearly 20 years after Dumont’s final Marx Brothers film. She considered it a stroke of luck.

That ability landed her the role of Mrs. Herman, which she was thrilled with. She didn’t expect to receive a second call about the film.

“They said, ‘Can you do a baby?’ And I said, ‘Sure,’ ” April shared, noting they asked her to come in “immediately.”

It was emotional for April to learn she’d secured both roles, and she admitted she cried at her day job after getting the news.

“I couldn’t believe it…I’m the first voice you hear in the movie.”

April had a simliarly emotional experience when she understood her dad’s pride in her work. Paul Winchell died in 2005, estranged from his children. However, he did speak of April and her career to his friends.

“After he died… one of his friends told me, ‘Your dad used to listen to you on the radio… he was very aware of all of your work… he was very proud of you.’ I had no idea.”