For decades, Jonathan Winters entertained audiences on stage, on screen and as a voice-over artist. Legendary are his improvisational humor, voice character abilities and improv. He is known for his ability to impersonate John Wayne, Cary Grant, Jimmy Cagney, and many more. He inspired such performers as Jim Carrey, Tracey Ullman, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Jimmy Kimmel, Johnny Carson and Billy Crystal. He strongly supported military veterans and the USO, which likely stems from his service in the Marine Corps during World War II in the Pacific. Winters served in the Corps from 1943 to 1946 and attained the rank of corporal during his time. He returned home from the war, studied at Kenyon College and the Dayton Art Institute, and found his way into Hollywood. He earned many awards such as two Grammys, a Primetime Emmy and has a placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His credits include the comedy hit It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Twilight Zone, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, The Muppet Show, The Smurfs (as Papa Smurf and Grandpa Smurf), Mork & Mindy, Tiny Toons and numerous specials with his name in the title. He appeared in over 50 movies during his career. He struggled in life and overcame many challenges on his way to success and being a pop icon that inspired such comedians, most notably Robin Williams.
Winters grew up in Ohio and struggled with having divorced parents during a period when divorce was highly uncommon. He found solace in doing voices and making people laugh. He quit high school to serve his country in the Corps, went to college and married Eileen Schauder in 1948. His career started because he had lost his wristwatch and could not afford a new one. His wife found an ad for a talent contest which had a grand prize of a wristwatch. Voila! He entered, won, and even got a job as a disc jockey through his performance. He did well at the station, and his persona took over, which developed into comedy routes while still at Kenyon College. He moved to NYC in the early 50s with little savings and stayed with friends in Greenwich Village. He got an agent and made it onto TV. Winters broke into the majors on the CBS show Omnibus and from there took flight as a Utica Club beer voiceover artist. He then became the spokesman for Hefty trash bags and further utilized his improv abilities to add humor to the commercials.
Jonathan Winters in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as a truck driver. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
By the early 60s, Winters was recording his comedy routines to records, which led to further success and opportunities. He started to appear on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar, tv bits and then made it onto The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1962. His guest appearances on the Carson show ran into the 1990s and led to many on-stage hijinks and hilarity, some of which included Robin Williams. By the late 1960s, Winters had his own show called The Jonathan Winters Show, a name aptly put. He then had his own syndicated show named The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters in the early 1970s. One of his most notable appearances on TV involves his mentee and friend Robin Williams on his show Mork & Mindy. Williams’ character Mork, a being from another planet, lays an egg and it hatches out Jonathan Winters. The two had a blast! Winters continued on in the 1980s with comedy routines, partnerships, and jumping into kids’ animation even further with The Smurfs, Pound Puppies, and Yogi’s Treasure Hunt.
By the 90s, Winters’ legacy had been established, and he started doing more roles for fun and experience. He played a “Grizzled Man” in The Flintstones live action feature with John Goodman and a serious police chief and uncle to Alec Baldwin’s character in The Shadow. He then appeared in Animaniacs, a kids cartoon, and received the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 1999. His career continued into the 2000s with The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Swing, both films. His final two film roles were as Papa Smurf in The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2. He passed shortly after filming his part.
Winters remained married to Eileen for over 60 years and she passed in 2009. Winters passed on April 11, 2013. Robin Williams shared on his social media about Winters’ passing that, “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.” Robin further shared about Winters’ routines with, “It was like seeing a guy behind a mask, and you could see his characters were a great way for him to talk about painful stuff.” Winters lives on the memory of fans and Hollywood legend for his comedic abilities and humanity.