The guy who voiced Mr. Owl in Tootsie Pop cartoons also invented the artificial heart
"Paul Winchell built the prototype with the advice and input of Henry J. Heimlich, the doctor who invented the most famous method of saving choking victims, and received his patent in 1963. He later donated the patent to the University of Utah."
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/20-things-you-never-knew-about-popular-inventions