Jonathan Winters

Jonathan Winters was an utter original, a wildly improvisational comic whose work careened from childlike prankishness to bitter satire and from bizarre sound effects to straight-faced moralizing -- often all within the same bit. Mercurial and manic, Winters veered from character to character and premise to premise at breakneck speed, yet with balletic grace; for all of the seeming chaos inherent in his comedy, his aesthetic remained remarkably consistent and pure, his stream-of-consciousness narratives and radical concepts all refracted through the same singularly bent world-view. In essence, Winters was comedy's first surrealist, and his groundbreaking vision paved the way for everyone from Andy Kaufman to Robin Williams.

Jonathan Harshman Winters III was born in Dayton, OH, on November 11, 1925. After serving in World War II and graduating college, he returned to Dayton to begin his career at a local radio station; although his job description called only for him to introduce records and read news and weather reports, his ad-libbed remarks and menagerie of strange voices quickly began dominating his weekday broadcasts. In the early '50s he graduated to television, winning a recurring slot on CBS' daytime series The Garry Moore Show and introducing popular characters like farmer Elwood P. Suggins and free-spirited senior citizen Maude Frickert.

After appearing on the 1955 summer replacement series And Here's the Show, Winters was awarded his own 15-minute NBC program (aired each Tuesday following the network news) in 1956. After exiting the show a year later, he issued his 1960 debut LP, The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters, a collection of bizarre skits that he introduced by discussing a recent stay in a sanitarium. Severe emotional difficulties plagued Winters throughout his life, and he was institutionalized on several occasions; alcoholism haunted him as well, and while his comic genius was never in question, many show business executives labeled him a risky proposition and chose not to consider him for television and film work.

Still, Winters remained a major nightclub and Las Vegas draw, and his recorded output continued unabated. While albums like 1960's Down to Earth, 1961's Here's Jonathan, and 1962's Another Day, Another World focused primarily on strange but premeditated routines like "Oldest Airline Stewardess" and "Thoughts of a Turtle," 1962's Humor as Seen Through the Eyes of Jonathan Winters made a significant move toward pure improvisation. After appearing in the 1963 feature comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, he returned to the studio to record 1964's Whistle Stopping, a concept album written by future Tonight Show scribe Pat McCormick commenting on the upcoming presidential elections.

Also in 1964, Winters starred in the first of several television specials that aired over the next few seasons; additionally, he was a popular guest of programs like The Tonight Show and The Andy Williams Program. Finally, in 1967 he returned to weekly television with The Jonathan Winters Show, a variety series for CBS that ran through 1969. The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters, a syndicated improvisational program, followed in 1972; after it too went off the air after just two seasons, he largely receded from view for the remainder of the decade. Finally, in 1981 Winters returned to co-star during the final season of the sagging comedy Mork and Mindy, playing the infant alien son of star Robin Williams, who claimed Winters as his biggest inspiration.

Winters resurfaced infrequently in the years that followed, appearing in small film and television roles, hosting comedy showcases on cable, and handling voice-over work for animated programs. Although he no longer crafted the kinds of improvisational LPs that won him acclaim in the 1960s, Winters resumed his prolific recorded output in the 1980s, recording an adaptation of Peter and the Wolf as well as children's albums like The Little Prince and Paul Bunyan. At the turn of the decade, he signed to Dove (a company best known for their books-on-tape series) and issued the cassette releases Finally Captured and Into the 90's. The Grammy-winning Crank Calls followed in 1995. Crank(y) Calls was issued in 2000 and Outpatients was released a year later. Additional releases during the 2000s have included One Blossom Short (2004), Old Folks (2006), and The Underground Tapes (2007).

from Wikipedia:

Jonathan Harshman Winters III (born November 11, 1925) is an American comedian and actor.

Early life

Winters was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, the son of Alice Kilgore (née Rodgers), a radio personality, and Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an investment broker. He is 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, Winters has described his father as an alcoholic who had trouble holding a job. When he was seven, his parents separated, and Winters' mother took him to Springfield, Ohio to live with his maternal grandmother.

At age 17, Winters quit high school and joined the United States Marine Corps and served two and a half years in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Upon his return he attended Kenyon College. He later studied cartooning at Dayton Art Institute, where he met Eileen Schauder, whom he married in 1948.

Winters is a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Lambda chapter).

Career

His career began as a result of a lost wristwatch, about six or seven months after his marriage to Eileen. The newlyweds couldn’t afford to buy another one. Then Eileen read about a talent contest in which the first prize was a wristwatch, and encouraged Jonathan to “go down and win it.” She was certain he could…and he did. His performance led to a disc jockey job, where he was supposed to introduce songs and announce the temperature. Gradually his ad libs, personas and antics took over the show.

He began comedy routines and acting while studying at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He was also a local radio personality on WING (mornings, 6 to 8) in Dayton, Ohio and at WIZE in Springfield, Ohio. He performed as Johnny Winters on WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio for two and a half years, quitting the station in 1953 when they refused him a $5.00 raise. After promising his wife that he would return to Dayton if he did not make it in a year, and with $56.46 in his pocket, he moved to New York City, staying with friends in Greenwich Village. After obtaining Martin Goodman as his agent, he began stand-up routines in various New York nightclubs. His big break occurred (with the revised name of Jonathan) when he worked for Alistair Cooke on the CBS Sunday morning show Omnibus. In 1957, he performed in the first color television show, a 15-minute routine sponsored by Tums.

Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label, starting in 1960. Probably the best-known of his characters from this period is Maude Frickert, the seemingly sweet old lady with the barbed tongue. He was a favorite of Jack Paar and appeared frequently on his television programs, even going so far as to impersonate then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy over the phone as a prank on Paar. In addition, he would often appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, usually in the guise of some character. Carson often did not know what Winters had planned and usually had to tease out the character's back story during a pretend interview. Carson invented a character called "Aunt Blabby" that was an impression of Maude Frickert.

Winters has appeared in nearly 50 movies and several television shows, including particularly notable roles in the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and in the dual roles of Henry Glenworthy and his dark, scheming brother, the Rev. Wilbur Glenworthy, in the film adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One. Fellow comedians who starred with him in Mad World, such as Arnold Stang, claimed that in the long periods while they waited between scenes, Winters would entertain them for hours in their trailer by becoming any character that they would suggest to him. He also appeared in Viva Max! (1970) and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966).

He appeared as a regular (along with Woody Allen and Jo Anne Worley) on the Saturday morning children's television program Hot Dog in the late sixties. He also had a CBS nighttime show from 1967 to 1969, and had his own show, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters during 1972–74. Winters did dramatic work in the The Twilight Zone episode "A Game of Pool" (episode #3.5, October 13, 1961). He recorded Ogden Nash's The Carnival of the Animals poems to Camille Saint-Saëns' classical opus. He appeared on ABC's The American Sportsman, hosted by Grits Gresham, who took celebrities on hunting, fishing, and shooting trips to exotic places around the world. He appeared regularly as a panelist on The Hollywood Squares and made many very memorable appearances on both The Dean Martin Show and The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.

In the fourth and last season of the sci-fi-based TV comedy Mork & Mindy, Jonathan Winters (one of Robin Williams' idols) was brought in as Mork & Mindy's child, Mearth. Due to the different Orkan physiology, Mork laid an egg, which grew and hatched into the much older Winters. It had been previously explained that Orkans aged "backwards," thus explaining Mearth's appearance and that of his teacher, Miss Geezba (portrayed by then-11-year-old actress Louanne Sirota). Mork's infant son Mearth in Mork & Mindy was created in hopes of improving ratings and as an attempt to capitalize on Williams' comedic talents. Winters had previously guest-starred in Season 3, Episode 18 as Dave McConnell, Mindy's uncle. However, after multiple scheduling and cast changes, Mork & Mindy's 4th season was already pretty low in the ratings and ended up being the show's last season.

He was a regular on Hee Haw during the 1983–84 season. Shortly after this, in 1987, Winters was featured in NFL Films' The NFL TV Follies. He was the voice of Grandpa Smurf from 1986–1990 on the television series The Smurfs.

In 1991 and 1992, he was on Davis Rules, a sitcom that lasted two seasons (25 episodes). He played Gunny Davis, an eccentric grandfather who was helping raise his grandchildren after his son lost his wife. In addition to his live action roles, he was also a guest star on The New Scooby-Doo Movies (in an episode in which the Scooby Gang was looking forward to his promised performance as Maude Frickert) and the narrator in Frosty Returns. Winters also provided the voice for the thief in Arabian Knight.

From 1959 to 1964, Winters' voice could be heard in a series of popular television commercials for Utica Club beer. In the ads, he provided the voices of talking beer steins, named "Shultz and Dooley." Later, he became a spokesman for Hefty brand trash bags, for whom he appeared as a dapper garbageman known for collecting "gahr-bahj," as well as Maude Frickert and other characters.

Later years

In 1999, Winters was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He now lives near Santa Barbara, California, and is often seen browsing and hamming for the crowd at the antique show on the Ventura County fairgrounds. He often entertains the tellers and other workers whenever he visits his local bank to make a deposit or withdrawal. He spends time painting, and has been presented in one-man shows of his art. In 1987, he published Winters' Tales: Stories and Observations for the Unusual. Other writings have followed, and he is said to be working on his autobiography.

In June 2008, Winters was presented with the TV Land Pioneer Award by his friend Robin Williams.

On February 11, 2010 it was announced that Winters would provide the voice of Papa Smurf in the live-action Smurfs movie.

Personal life

In his interview with the Archive of American Television Winters reported that he suffered a nervous breakdown and spent eight months in a private mental hospital in the late 1950s. Although he was not given a diagnosis while in the hospital, he was later diagnosed with manic depression (known today as bipolar disorder). The comedian referred to this incident obliquely in his stand-up act, 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 wasn't careful, the authorities might put him back in the "rubber room," referring to the institution.

On January 11, 2009, Eileen, Jonathan's wife of 60 years, died at the age of 84 after a 20-year battle with breast cancer.

Filmography

Features:

Alakazam the Great (1960) (voice in English dubbed version)It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)The Loved One (1965)The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)Penelope (1966)Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad (1967)Eight on the Lam (1967)Viva Max! (1969)The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972)The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh (1979)Pogo for President: I Go Pogo (1980) (voice)Mork & Mindy (1981)E. Nick: A Legend in His Own Mind (1984)The Little Troll Prince (1985)The Longshot (1986)Say Yes (1986)On The Ledge (1987)Moon over Parador (1988)Frosty Returns [Narrator] (1992)Davis Rules (1992)The Flintstones (1994)The Shadow (1994)Arabian Knight (Miramax 1995)The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000)Swing (2003)Comic Book: The Movie (2004)Tell Them Who You Are (2004) (documentary)National Lampoon's Cattle Call (2006)Certifiably Jonathan (2011)The Smurfs (2011)

Short Subjects:

Sonic Boom (1974)Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big (2000) (voice)Santa vs. the Snowman 3D (2002) (voice)