Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. He started performing as a stand up comedian before transitioning his career to acting in film and television. Winters received numerous accolades including two Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960,[1] the American Academy of Achievement in 1973,[2] and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 1999.
Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Harshman Winters III
November 11, 1925
Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
April 11, 2013 (aged 87)
Montecito, California, U.S.
Stand-up, film, television, books
1949–2013
2
1943–1946
Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label including The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters (1960). He also had records released every decade for over 50 years, receiving 11 Grammy nominations, including eight for Best Comedy Album, during his career. From these nominations, he won the Grammy Award for Best Album for Children for his contribution to an adaptation of The Little Prince in 1975 and the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album for Crank(y) Calls in 1996.
With a career spanning more than six decades, Winters also appeared in hundreds of television shows and films, including eccentric characters on The Steve Allen Show, The Garry Moore Show, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters (1972–74), Mork & Mindy, and Hee Haw. For his role in the 1963 comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 1991, Winters won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Gunny Davis in the short-lived sitcom Davis Rules. In 2002, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance as Q.T. Marlens on Life with Bonnie. Winters was presented with a Pioneer TV Land Award by Robin Williams in 2008.
He also voiced Grandpa Smurf on The Smurfs TV series from 1986 to the show's conclusion in 1989. Over twenty years later, Winters was introduced to a new generation through voicing Papa Smurf in The Smurfs (2011) and The Smurfs 2 (2013). Winters died nine days after recording his dialogue for The Smurfs 2; the film was dedicated to his memory. Winters also spent time painting and presenting his artwork, including silkscreens and sketches, in many gallery shows. He authored several books including his book of short stories entitled Winters' Tales (1988).[3]
Early life[edit]
Winters was born in Dayton, Ohio, to Alice Kilgore Rodgers and Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an insurance agent who later became an investment broker.[4][5] He was a descendant of Valentine Winters, founder of the Winters National Bank in Dayton, Ohio (now part of JPMorgan Chase). Of English and Scotch-Irish ancestry,[6] Winters had described his father as an alcoholic who had trouble holding a job. His grandfather, a frustrated comedian, owned the Winters National Bank, which failed as the family's fortunes collapsed during the Great Depression.
When he was seven, his parents separated. Winters' mother took him to Springfield, Ohio, to live with his maternal grandmother.[7][8] "Mother and dad didn't understand me; I didn't understand them," Winters told Jim Lehrer on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer in 1999.[9] "So consequently it was a strange kind of arrangement." Alone in his room, he created characters and interviewed himself. A poor student, Winters continued talking to himself and developed a repertoire of strange sound effects. He often entertained his high school friends by imitating a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.[10]
In another television interview, Winters described how deeply he was hurt by his parents’ divorce. He fought youthful tormentors who ridiculed him for not having a father in his life. When the tormentors were not around, he would go to a building or tree and weep in despair. Winters said that he learned to laugh at his situation but admitted that his adult life had been a response to sorrow.[11]
During his senior year at Springfield High School, Winters quit school, joined the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of seventeen and served 2+1⁄2 years in the Pacific Theater during World War II.[5][12][13] Upon his return, he attended Kenyon College. He later studied cartooning at Dayton Art Institute, where he met Eileen Schauder, whom he married on September 11, 1948. He was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Lambda chapter).
Later years[edit]
Winters had various roles and appeared in numerous television features throughout the early to mid-2000s.[25] In 2000, Winters appeared in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. In 2003, he appeared in the film Swing.
In 2004, Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time ranked Winters as the No. 18 greatest stand-up comedian.[26] In 2005 and 2006, Winters appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[27][28]
In 2008, Winters was presented with a Pioneer TV Land Award by Robin Williams. That same year, PBS aired Pioneers of Television,[29] and Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America in 2009,[30] both featuring Winters.
Winters was coaxed out of retirement to voice Papa Smurf in The Smurfs (2011), the first-ever animated/live-action Smurfs film, and later in The Smurfs 2 (2013), his final film project.[31] He died only nine days after he finished recording Papa's voice.[32]
Winters was originally cast in Big Finish (2014), during pre-production. It is a comedy set in a retirement home. His scheduled role was to appear alongside Jerry Lewis and Bob Newhart.[33][34]
Personal life[edit]
Jonathan and Eileen Winters had two children.[35]
In his interview with the Archive of American Television, Winters reported that he spent eight months in a private psychiatric hospital in 1959 and again in 1961. The comic suffered from nervous breakdowns and bipolar disorder.[3] With unprecedented frenetic energy, Winters made obscure references to his illness and hospitalization during his stand-up routines, most famously on his 1960 comedy album, The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters. During his classic "flying saucer" routine, Winters casually mentions that if he was not careful, the authorities might put him back in the "zoo", referring to the institution.
"These voices are always screaming to get out," Winters told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "They follow me around pretty much all day and night." Winters could use his talents in voice-over roles. A devotee of Groucho Marx and Laurel and Hardy, Winters once claimed, "I've done for the most part pretty much what I intended." He told U.S. News, "I ended up doing comedy, writing, and painting.... I've had a ball, and as I get older I just become an older kid."[7]
Winters lived near Santa Barbara, California, and was often seen browsing or "hamming" for the crowd at the antique and gun shows on the Ventura County fairgrounds. He often entertained the tellers and other employees whenever he visited his local bank to make a deposit or withdrawal. Additionally, he spent his time painting and attended many gallery showings, even presenting his art in one-man shows.
On January 11, 2009, Winters's wife of more than 60 years, Eileen, died at the age of 84 after a 20-year battle with breast cancer.[36]
Death[edit]
Winters died of natural causes on the evening of April 11, 2013, in Montecito, California, at the age of 87.[5][37][38]
He was survived by his two children and five grandchildren.[39][40] He was cremated, and his ashes were given to his family.
Fans of Winters placed flowers on his Hollywood Walk of Fame star on April 12, 2013, at 1:30 p.m.[41]
Many comedians, actors, and friends gave personal tributes to Winters on social media shortly after his death. Robin Williams posted, "First he was my idol, then he was my mentor and amazing friend. I'll miss him huge. He was my Comedy Buddha. Long live the Buddha."[42][43][44] In September 2013, at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, Williams again honored the career and life of Winters.[45] The 2013 movie The Smurfs 2 was dedicated to him.