Jonathan Harshman Winters III was an American comedian, actor, author, and artist. He was best known for his role as Lennie Pike in the 1963 comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
For Sony Pictures Animation, he played Papa Smurf in The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2, which was released after his death.
Early life[]
Winters was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, to Alice Kilgore Rodgers, who later became a radio personality, and her husband 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, 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's mother, in whom he found a comedic mentor, 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 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).
Career[]
Winters had a lot of careers in his life. He was an actor, singer and comedy ever since the 1980s and 1990s. Winters also had performed roles in old television shows in his years.
Death[]
Winters died of natural causes on April 11, 2013, in Montecito, California, surrounded by family and friends, at the age of 87. He is survived by his two children, Jay Winters and Lucinda Winters, and five grandchildren. 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 Jonathan Winters on social media after his death, including Patton Oswalt, Steve Martin, Pee-wee Herman, Steve Carell, Roseanne Barr, Jimmy Kimmel, Albert Brooks, Robert Klein, Kathy Griffin, Ruth Buzzi, Dane Cook, Keith Olbermann, David Arquette, French Stewart, Kevin Pollak, Joel McHale, Michael McKean, Greg Grunberg, Kelly Monteith and Rosie O'Donnell, among others. 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."
Sony Pictures Animation Roles[]
