Junius Matthews

Junius Conyers Matthews was an American actor He was the voice of Archimedes the Owl in Disneys The Sword in the Stone in 1963 He was also the original voice of Rabbit in the Winnie the Pooh franchise from 1966 to 1977 He was a private in World War I before becoming an actor and determined to become a popular radio and television actor his career began on stage where he got his first role in a silent film called The Silent Witness 1917 He later played the role of the Tin Woodsman on a radio version of The Wizard of Oz His distinctive voice can be frequently heard in supporting roles in radio particularly westerns where he was often cast as an old codger miner or master of the cook wagon Matthews appeared on the shortlived series Luke Slaughter of Tombstone as Slaughters sidekick Wichita and played Ling Wee a Chinese waiter in Gasoline Alley He also made guest appearances on several television series in the 1950s and 60s It was not until the last ten years of his life that Matthews became widely known for his role as Rabbit in the Winnie the Pooh movies produced by the Disney studio from 1966 to 1977 including the featurettes Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree 1966 Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day 1968 and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too 1974 as well as the featurelength compilation film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 1977 He played other roles for Disney most notably the owl Archimedes in Disneys The Sword in the Stone 1963 Matthews died on January 18 1978 at age 87 and was buried in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills Cemetery