Sterling Holloway, Actor, The Voice Of Pooh, Other Disney Characters

LOS ANGELES - Sterling Holloway, whose gangly manner made him the quintessential country bumpkin in a series of comedy films and whose reedy voice proved ideal for several of Walt Disney's most enduring animal characters, especially Winnie the Pooh, has died.

His agent, Kingsley Colton, said that his longtime client was 87 when he died Sunday of heart failure at Hospital of the Good Samaritan in Los Angeles.

Holloway had remained active until shortly before his death, Colton added, and several of his commercial voice-overs are still being heard on television.

Holloway was the clumsy soda jerk or village handyman in many movies of the 1930s and '40s. And he carried those mannerisms into TV, as the co-star of "The Baileys of Balboa," a 1964-65 cop comedy.

He also appeared regularly on "Hollywood Premiere," "The Life of Riley" (as Waldo), the 1954-55 legal drama "Willy" and "Your Story Theatre."

His film career began in the silent era with a series of short comedies.

But instead of finding himself out of work in 1928 with the advent of sound pictures as happened to many other featured players, his distinctive voice - which sounded as if he had terminal tonsillitis - brought him prosperity.

In the 1930s and '40s the lanky redhead was featured in "Gold Diggers of 1933," "The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend," "Alice in Wonderland" (the 1933 version as The Frog), "Maid of Salem," "Of Human Hearts," "Remember the Night" and many more.

In 1951 he was the Cheshire Cat in Disney's animated version of "Alice" and more recently he was seen in "Batman" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

For one of his most memorable roles, that of the eternally honey-seeking bear Pooh, Holloway created a sweet and innocent childlike voice in four short films. Three were combined in the 1983 movie "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." He also did the voice for Messenger Stork in "Dumbo."

"Sterling just had a unique voice," said Rick Dempsey, director of Disney animated voices. "It was a high-tenor, raspy voice unlike anything you heard."

Holloway's voice was also featured prominently in 1967's "The Jungle Book," the classic Disney animated musical. In that film, his snake character sang the memorable song "Trust in Me" as he hypnotized Mowgli.

Holloway came from a distinguished theatrical background.

He graduated from Georgia Military Academy and studied at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

He is survived by his adopted son Richard.