Another World War II Vet Passes
An older gentleman, aged 87, passed away on 11 April 2013.
Like many of his generation the man was a vet. He quit high school during his senior year, enlisted in the USMC at age 17, and spent 2 1/2 years in the South Pacific.
After his return from war he went to college, discovering an interest in art. He met his future wife; their marriage lasted until her death over 60 years later.
He became a comic, and a damn good one, not too long afterwards. He spent the rest of his professional life entertaining people and trying to make people laugh.
The man’s name? Jonathan Winters.
Rest in peace, Jonathan Winters. Rest in peace.
Added Sporkmaster: I think my lack of age is showing here. I was looking at his photo and it looked familiar but I could not place it. Looked him up and then I saw a much younger photo of him in the movie “It’s a Mad Mad Mad World”. My father showed it to me when I in my early teens. So to help those in the thirty and under age group I am adding a video of the best scenes of that movie with Jonathan Winters.
Category: Blue Skies
Winters was the best. In a 1999 interview on PBS, Jim Lehrer asked him how he came to do the stand-up comedy. He related that when he was in the Marine Corps, he was on a ship with 75 other Marines and 2,000 sailors. There was a comedy contest and he ‘instructed’ to get up and do a bit. He did and he won. The prize, he said, was 5 gallons of ice cream. He had many demons but never quit. God bless him. He was the best.
Oh-my. The things you don’t find out until after a person passes. And then it’s too late. A comedic genius, whose like shall not pass this way again. RIP, Mr Winters, RIP.
He will be missed. RIP, Mr Winters.
I always loved his work. He never needed to use foul language, and could bring you to tears with laughter.
If you want to understand just how good he was, Robin Williams credited him with being a major influence on his own career.
RIP, Marine, and thank you.
Jonathan Winters was a comic genius. I remember watching “The Jonathan Winters Show” as a kid. It was my weekly ab work out because I laughed so hard my stomach hurt afterward. I really liked his guest appearances on “The Carol Burnette Show” where he’d get Tim Conway or Harvey Korman (No slouches in the comedy department, either) to crack up in the middle of a sketch with just a look.
@4: Robin Williams considered him his mentor and they became good friends. I saw a tv show, a long time ago, where Williams was playing tennis with Winters and those two were feeding off each other and it got to the point where I couldn’t breathe I was laughing so hard.
One of the true comedy greats has left us and the world is lesser for it. I haven’t always been a fan of Williams politics, but he has done numerous USO tours and entertained the troops with passion, so I give him some slack for that. I think that Winters was an influence on Williams getting involved, because Winters used to be a staple on Bob Hope’s tours.
He took four words (“All over my body”) turned them into Allllllllll over my baaaaaaaahdy and made me keel over with laughter.
Rest in Peace, sir.
AirCAv, I remember that that now. Another of the true giants of his chosen field.
RIP, Mr. Winters.
I still remember him and Williams singing a hilarious “New York, New York” parody on the old Mork and Mindy show-RIP.
Well, this was an unpleasant thing to wake up to. As a kid I just adored his act, and could not for an appearance on ANY SHOW ON T.V.! He was a fantastic comedian.
I guess the Lord needed some cheering up.
I hate to see folks like Mr. Winters pass. I knew he was old, he was a part of a generation of comedians that not only could make you laugh but also to think. Johnathan Winters, Lord Buckley, Mort Sahl, even such “foul mouthed” comedians as Lenny Bruce and George Carlin had a sublime and sardonic means of making you think about the world regardless of whether or not you agreed with them. It still hurts to lose a man who you could look to, not a some “celebrity” but as a “Friend”. Today I grieve and mourn for him. Still I’m glad to know he’s got a gig at Gabe’s Place and I can’t wait to hear him again.
This day we weep for the passing of a true hero. Mr Winters, whatever personal demons you faced, you carried on. You served the Republic in War and in Peace and we were enriched as a people by it. Well Done Marine! Godspeed, Fair Winds and I pray that we may be worthy.
I always loved to watch him on Johnny Carson. Even though the guest was Jonathan Winters, you never knew who was going to show up.
Rest In Peace Johnathan Winters.
Winters could make a man sitting in the electric chair laugh. A simply complex man, no doubt, who knew what joy was … As a child, I loved watching him on the Sunday night variety shows …
Some of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life, other than military, were those shows and more specifically the Carrol Burnett Show with Tim Conway and Jonathan Winters acting out the clowns without ever uttering a foul word.
As far as Johnny Carson goes check out this blast fromn the past and look at all the faces on the dias: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjYohvrldIg&list=RD02mJ00oNctck4
Goodnight, Maude Fricker.