R.I.P.: Jonathan Winters, 1925-2013

[Joseph_Gallant]

Actor and comedian Jonathan Winters, who established himself as a star on several TV shows in the 1950's and 1960's, has died at the age of 87.

To younger viewers, he may be best known for playing the father of Mork (Robin Williams) in the late 1970's classic sitcom "Mork and Mindy" (in fact, Williams considered Winters his idol and the reason he got into acting)

CNN story: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/showbiz/jonthan-winters-death/index.html .

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

RIP, Jonathan. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.

Just in the last 8 days alone (in 4-day intervals) we have lost a threesome of celebrities: first Roger Ebert, then Annette Funicello, now Jonathan Winters. Sad.

 

[bpatrick]

Robin Williams has said that he was allowed to stay up (at
least from time to time) to catch Jonathan Winters when he'd
show up on the Jack Paar "Tonight Show." Winters also influenced
Johnny Carson; notice the obvious resemblance between Maude Frickert
and Aunt Blabby.

What surprised me about Winters was that he was a regular on "Hee Haw,"
a show he had put down for years (he once told Steve Allen, "That humor is,
to me, at least thirty years old").

But he was one of the most creative people in the world of comedy and it's
perhaps fortunate that his appearances were irregular, since a little of him
might have gone a long way. R.I.P.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Jonathan Winters was always one of my favorite comedians. He will definitely be missed.

One correction: He played Mork's son in Mork and Mindy since everyone from Ork hatched from an egg older and became younger as time went on. Although he looked like a 50 something man he acted like a baby.

 

[Braves2005]

While I liked Jonathan Winters and his comedy, I feel that his role on Mork and Mindy as Mork's "son" on the show was a jump the shark moment along with the fact that Mork married Mindy which was yet another JTS moment. Robin Williams thought because he admired Jonathan and that his comedy would bring something to the show but as it turned out it wasn't enough as the show ended after that. I believe that Jonathan was a better suit for another role on the show than being a man playing a baby.

R.I.P. Jonathan!!

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

While I liked Jonathan Winters and his comedy, I feel that his role on Mork and Mindy as Mork's "son" on the show was a jump the shark moment along with the fact that Mork married Mindy which was yet another JTS moment. Robin Williams thought because he admired Jonathan and that his comedy would bring something to the show but as it turned out it wasn't enough as the show ended after that. I believe that Jonathan was a better suit for another role on the show than being a man playing a baby. R.I.P. Jonathan!!

Very rewarding experience reading your post. I too felt the same way about JW as the newborn, along with the wedding of Mork & Mindy. My oldest son simply loved that show, but I confided to his mother my opinion that those parallel storylines would cripple the show's credibility. Still, Jonathan Winters brought lots of laughs to many TV viewers.

His humor was cutting edge, yet family friendly (mostly). Heck, as tough a critic as my mother simply loved him! Just like Robin Williams, my mother cut me some slack, allowing me to stay up late to watch him on Jack Parr.

 

[rnigma1]

He was an improv genius. I do recall the Hefty trash bag ads (predating the "wimpy wimpy wimpy" jingle) with Winters as a garbageman who insists on Hefty bags for "gar-Bahzh."

I have a vague memory of seeing one episode of his late-'60s show: during the closing credits, there were shots of an orchestra made up of mechanical dummies.

 

[Fenway1912]

This shows his genius

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwWDa1xPTPA

 

[cd637299]

I thought that "Mork and Mindy" was laugh-out-loud hilarious in Season 1 only.* For some oddball reason, the grandma was written out, Conrad Janis got the boot, and they did a lot of scenes from a pizza place with two new actors I had never heard of. For me, that was the jump-the-shark moment. I never bothered watching after that, even though Janis returned.

I loved Winters too, but I don't think that anything could have saved that show from Season 2 onward.

Anybody remember the syndicated "The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters"? I think it came on late Saturday nights here in Miami.

We used to have one of his albums; I think it had the Maude Frickert character on the cover (1967?)

[*Edit: I will say that fish-out-of-water sitcoms basically are good for only a year or two. I loved "The Beverly Hillbillies" Seasons 1-3; but once they get used to city life, it's not funny anymore to me. How it ran 9 years was beyond me.]

cd

 

[therealjm12]

Jonathan Winters did the voice work for Schultz & Dooley Utica Club Beer commercials back in the late 50's & 60's. They were just great. A lot of humor and bad puns. Very entertaining. Here they are on YouTube. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEok7S8NZE4

 

[rnigma1]

For some oddball reason, the grandma was written out, Conrad Janis got the boot, and they did a lot of scenes from a pizza place with two new actors I had never heard of.

Wasn't one of those actors Jay Thomas?

 

[bpatrick]

Jay Thomas was one; Gina Hecht was the other.

 

[cd637299]

Jay Thomas was one; Gina Hecht was the other.

I remember Gina (pronounced with a hard G) also from all the game shows (that had celebrities) she was on at the time. Hey, gotta squeeze your fame while you can, eh?

cd

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Anybody remember the syndicated "The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters"?
[*Edit: I will say that fish-out-of-water sitcoms basically are good for only a year or two. I loved "The Beverly Hillbillies" Seasons 1-3; but once they get used to city life, it's not funny anymore to me. How it ran 9 years was beyond me.]
cd

LAR's 2013 Obituaries Thread, Classic TV, Reply 113, touches on Whacky World... and you're right about "fish-out-of-water" sitcoms. I myself never noticed that trend til you mentioned it. I'm thinking you can write that off to the sophistication of the average TV viewer. Wait a minute......... how then can we reconcile the popularity of Big Bang Theory? On the other hand...... Big Bang is still kinda 'new'...

 

[Braves2005]

I always pictured Winters playing a grumpy neighbor on Mork and Mindy similar to what Tom Poston played on the show but Winters playing a baby was kind of the end of me watching the show even though I was 10 at the time and I believe that many others might have had the same idea from watching the show in the original run and/or syndication since the final season of Mork and Mindy has yet to see the light of the day on DVD and it has been 6 years since the third season on DVD came out. I always wondered whose big idea it was for that last season turning out the way it did.

And here's something that I found odd is that some headlines suggested that he was the star of Mork and Mindy as one headline said "Mork and Mindy star dies at 87." Robin Williams was the star of Mork and Mindy not Jonathan Winters.

 

[cd637299]

^ Maybe it was written to appeal to the younger folk who didn't know Winters as an all-around funnyman of the 60s & 70s---only that Mearth character. Sometimes "star" is used, to mean "celebrity," although the word "star" to me would denote top-billing.

Oh and what I said about fish-out-of-water sitcoms.....I suppose you could call "Green Acres" just that, as the couple moved to the country from NYC. I think the difference here in GA is that they slowly tweaked the characters and plot over the years to the point of absurdity/surrealism (like putting the credits on laundry items) to keep things fresh, and it worked (for me, anyway). Give me Seasons 4-6 over season 1 any day!

cd

 

[anotherguyTN]

Here is a clip of Jonathan Winters from about 2 years ago on his 85th birthday: http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/2011/02/message-from-jonathan-winters-february.html

And other videos related to him at the site: http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/search/label/Jonathan Winters

 

[radiorob2.0]

Me TV ran the "Twilight Zone" episode with Jonathan Winters playing a champion billiard player that return from beyond to accept a challenge from a character played by Jack Klugman. Winters played the roll straight as an arrow and nailed it.

 

[onairb]

I always pictured Winters playing a grumpy neighbor on Mork and Mindy similar to what Tom Poston played on the show but Winters playing a baby was kind of the end of me watching the show even though I was 10 at the time and I believe that many others might have had the same idea from watching the show in the original run and/or syndication since the final season of Mork and Mindy has yet to see the light of the day on DVD and it has been 6 years since the third season on DVD came out. I always wondered whose big idea it was for that last season turning out the way it did.

And here's something that I found odd is that some headlines suggested that he was the star of Mork and Mindy as one headline said "Mork and Mindy star dies at 87." Robin Williams was the star of Mork and Mindy not Jonathan Winters.

Winters had appeared once on Mork and Mindy, either late season 1 or season 2, playing a visting relative of Mindy's. The gist of the episode was that Mindy accidentally took some sort of Orkan medication intended for Mork, which made her act weird..and, of course, Jonathan eventually got ahold of the stuff, too. It was an all-too-brief example of the kind of shtick Mork and 'Mearth' did...yet it was much funnier as one-time bit.

 

[onairb]

I always pictured Winters playing a grumpy neighbor on Mork and Mindy similar to what Tom Poston played on the show but Winters playing a baby was kind of the end of me watching the show even though I was 10 at the time and I believe that many others might have had the same idea from watching the show in the original run and/or syndication since the final season of Mork and Mindy has yet to see the light of the day on DVD and it has been 6 years since the third season on DVD came out. I always wondered whose big idea it was for that last season turning out the way it did.

And here's something that I found odd is that some headlines suggested that he was the star of Mork and Mindy as one headline said "Mork and Mindy star dies at 87." Robin Williams was the star of Mork and Mindy not Jonathan Winters.

Winters had appeared once on Mork and Mindy, either late season 1 or season 2, playing a visiting relative of Mindy's. The gist of the episode was that Mindy accidentally took some sort of Orkan medication intended for Mork, which made her act weird during the dinner party..and, of course, Jonathan eventually got ahold of the stuff, too. It was an all-too-brief example of the kind of shtick Mork and 'Mearth' did...yet it was much funnier as one-time bit.