Jonathan Winters III
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Jonathan Harshman Winters III (1925 - 2013)

Jonathan Harshman Winters III
Born in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohiomap
Ancestors ancestors
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died at age 87 in Montecito, Santa Barbara County, Californiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 6 Jan 2019
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Biography

Notables Project
Jonathan Winters III is Notable.

Once described by talk-show host Jack Paar as "pound for pound, the funniest man alive." ___________________________________________________

Actor, Comedian. Born Jonathan Harshman Winters III, he joined the United States Marine Corps during his senior year of high school and upon his discharge attended the Dayton Art Institute. He began his entertainment career by winning a talent contest in 1950, which led to first hosting a children's television show, then a game show followed by a talk show. On television, he was featured in episodes in the series "Omnibus", "The Twilight Zone", "The Bob Hope Show", "Hot Dog", "Wait Till Your Father Gets Home", "Hee Haw" and "Mork and Mindy". Although nominated several times, his only Emmy win was for Best Supporting Actor in the situational comedy television series "Davis Rules". He appeared in a number of motion pictures, including "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1964), "The Loved One" (1965), "Penelope" (1966), "Eight on the Lam" (1967), "Viva Max" (1969), "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" (1979), "The Longshot" (1986), "Moon Over Parador" (1988) and '"The Flintstones" (1994). From 1960 through 2011 he recorded several comedy albums, winning Grammys for "The Little Prince" and "Crank Calls". He was awarded the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for Humor in 1999.

Source: Louis de Mort biography written for Find A Grave: [1]

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One of Jonathan's most beloved comedy routines was entitled "Flying Saucers", immortalized in one of the greatest comedy albums ever released, "The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters". You can listen to it here: [2].

Over the course of his career, Jonathan would be featured in 30 record albums. He would also either be featured or have roles in over 60 movies, films and television programs.

He worked with Robin Williams later in his career and they became close friends as kindred spirits. Here is a joint appearance when both Jonathan and Robin were together one night in 1991 on the Johnny Carson Show: [3] ________________________________________________

From Jonathan's Wikipedia Biography:

Early life

Winters was born in Dayton, Ohio, to Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an insurance agent who later became an investment broker. 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,[4] 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. "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. "So consequently it was a strange kind of arrangement." Alone in his room, he would create characters and interview 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.

During his senior year at Springfield High School, Winters quit school to join the U.S. Marine Corps at age 17 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 on September 11, 1948. He was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Lambda chapter).

Early career

Winters' career started as a result of a lost wristwatch, about six or seven months after his marriage to Eileen in 1948. 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, personae, 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. Jerome R. "Ted" Reeves, then Program Director for WBNS-TV, arranged for his first audition with CBS in New York City.

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 earliest network television appearance was in 1954 on Chance of a Lifetime hosted by Dennis James on the DuMont Television Network, where Winters again appeared as "Johnny Winters."

Winters made television history in 1956 when RCA broadcast the first public demonstration of color videotape on The Jonathan Winters Show. Author David Hajdu wrote in The New York Times (2006), "He soon used video technology 'to appear as two characters,' bantering back and forth, seemingly in the studio at the same time. You could say he invented the video stunt."

His big break occurred (with the revised name of Jonathan) when he worked for Alistair Cooke on the CBS Television Sunday morning show Omnibus. In 1957 he performed in the first color television show, a 15-minute routine sponsored by Tums.

Personal life

On February 8, 1960, Winters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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. With an 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 wasn't 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 was able to use his talents in voice-over roles as a result. 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."

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' wife of more than 60 years, Eileen, died at the age of 84 after a 20-year battle with breast cancer.

Death

Winters died of natural causes on the evening of April 11, 2013, in Montecito, California at the age of 87. He was survived by his two children, Jay Winters and Lucinda Winters, and five grandchildren. 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.

Many comedians, actors, and friends gave personal tributes about 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." In September 2013, at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, Williams would again honor the career and life of Winters.

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Jonathan Winters was the son of Jonathan Harshman Winters II and Alice Kilgore Rodgers, born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1925. He left high school during his senior year and joined the U.S. Marines, serving during WWII in the Pacific Theater.

Jonathan married Eileen Ann Schauder after the couple met at the Dayton Art Institute after World War II in 1948. They would have two children: Jonathan (Jay) Harshman Winters IV (1950- ) and Lucinda Kelly Winters (1956- ).

Sources

  • Wikipedia Biography: [4]
  • "United States Public Records, 1970-2009," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ1N-6QPN : 16 May 2014), Harshman Jonathan Winters, Residence, Camarillo, California, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.
  • Find A Grave Memorial: [5]
  • Washington Post Obituary: [6]
  • Jonathan Winters Home Page: [7]




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