Entertainment News: Comedian Jonathan Winters Dies at 87

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LOS ANGELES – Jonathan Winters, one of the most influential comedians of the past two generations, has died of natural causes on April 11th at his home in Montecito, California. His characteristic schizophrenic comic style inspired modern funnymen like Robin Williams, George Carlin and Jim Carrey. He was 87 years old.

The career of Jonathan Winters spanned from 1948 to the present, during which his freaky, energetic expression of humor had its own unique form. A fixture on such legendary television shows such as “The Tonight Show” (with both Jack Paar and Johnny Carson), “The Dean Martin Show” and “Hollywood Squares,” Winters would often appear as his alter ego Maude Frickert, a sharp tongued old lady character. It wasn’t just an act, as during his early career he spent time in mental institutions, and was diagnosed with manic depression.

Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Winters as Lennie Pike in ‘It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World’
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Jonathan Harshman Winters was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1925. He had a troubled childhood, his parents splitting when he was only seven years old, and he lived with his maternal grandmother thereafter. During World War II, he spent over two years in the Pacific Theater with the U.S. Marines, and after the war he met and married his wife Eileen in 1948. He took up performing that same year, on a dare and a broken wristwatch, as his wife encouraged him to sign up for a local talent show, with the first prize being a new watch. He won, and that led to a job as a local disk jockey.

Winters bounced around local radio and TV until 1953, when he set out New York City to join the burgeoning comedy scene in Greenwich Village. His stand-up led him to television, appearing in 1954 on the CBS-TV show “Omnibus,” with host Alistair Cooke. Later in the decade he recorded many classic comedy albums for Verve Records, and began to appear on “The Tonight Show,” first with host Jack Paar, and then with Paar’s replacement, Johnny Carson.

He made 50 films in career, most notably as crazy Lennie Pike in the classic “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” (1963). Winters continued that maniacal approach with subsequent roles in “The Loved One” (1965) and “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” (1966). He also scored on his own in television, doing a dramatic role on “The Twilight Zone” in 1961, three seasons on “The Jonathan Winters Show” from 1967-69, and appeared as a semi-regular on the last season in of “Mork & Mindy” (1982). He portrayed Mearth, the child of the title characters (Robin Williams and Pam Dawber), who emerges as an adult and grows up in reverse. Winters was a major influence on Williams.

His later career included several cartoon voice over roles, and short runs in TV series like “Davis Rules” (1991). He most recently had a small role in the live action “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle” (2000) and as the voice of Papa Smurf in “The Smurfs” (2011) and upcoming “The Smurfs 2.” Winters was also a recognized abstract fine artist and published author.

Jonathan Winters was married to Eileen Schauder from 1948 until her death in 2009, and is survived by two children. He summed up his successful career by once saying, “If your ship doesn’t come in, swim to it.”

Source material for this article came from the Wikipedia and imdb. Jonathan Winters, 1925-2013.

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2013 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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