WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.760 Okay, let's unpack this. We're diving into the 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:06.179 world of a true... A singular original, a man 00:00:06.179 --> 00:00:09.480 whose mind just moved so incredibly fast. It 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:11.699 often felt like he was running the four minute 00:00:11.699 --> 00:00:13.839 mile of comedy while everyone else was, you know, 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:15.539 maybe jogging. Yeah, absolutely. We're talking 00:00:15.539 --> 00:00:18.539 about Jonathan Harshman Winters III, born 1925, 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:22.260 passed away in 2013. Just an undisputed pioneer 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:25.339 whose whole approach to comedy really revolutionized 00:00:25.339 --> 00:00:27.640 television and stand up forever. Yeah, his career 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.920 spanned over six incredible decades, which is 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:33.240 amazing in itself. And what's so fascinating 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:35.659 about Winters. is that he wasn't just, like, 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:38.600 pigeonholed as a comedian, you know? Right. The 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:41.240 sources, they all confirmed he was this acclaimed 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:44.259 actor, a published author, even a really prolific 00:00:44.259 --> 00:00:47.000 visual artist. Which is wild. But you're totally 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:48.939 right. His enduring genius, the thing that really 00:00:48.939 --> 00:00:51.259 defined him, it lay completely in his ability 00:00:51.259 --> 00:00:54.159 to invent, just right there on the spot, in front 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.609 of millions. fundamentally changed like the whole 00:00:57.609 --> 00:00:59.509 relationship between the performer the audience 00:00:59.509 --> 00:01:02.649 and that specific moment so our mission today 00:01:02.649 --> 00:01:04.250 as we kind of go through all the source material 00:01:04.250 --> 00:01:06.810 we've gathered is to understand precisely how 00:01:06.810 --> 00:01:11.150 this um spontaneous genius really emerged we 00:01:11.150 --> 00:01:13.450 want to explore how he totally revolutionized 00:01:13.450 --> 00:01:16.409 the landscape of stand -up how his deep and i 00:01:16.409 --> 00:01:18.609 mean really well documented personal struggles 00:01:18.609 --> 00:01:21.609 with mental health actually fed rather than hindered 00:01:21.609 --> 00:01:25.680 his uh his explosive creative output Yeah, that's 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:27.599 a crucial part of it. And the massive, maybe 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:30.239 sometimes underappreciated legacy he left for 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:32.980 basically every improviser who works today. Yeah. 00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:36.019 And we absolutely have to establish his monumental 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:38.640 status right from the start just to give context 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:40.879 for his impact, you know. Winters wasn't just 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:43.359 popular, he was, well, revered. Revered is the 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:45.159 right word. He received the Mark Twain Prize 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:48.480 for American Humor in 1999, which, as you know, 00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:50.959 is pretty much the highest honor for lasting 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:53.120 impact in American comedy. The absolute peak. 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:55.420 He got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame way 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:58.549 back in 1960. And he won both a Primetime Emmy 00:01:58.549 --> 00:02:01.310 Award and two Grammy Awards for his comedy recordings, 00:02:01.569 --> 00:02:03.609 which were groundbreaking at the time. That combination 00:02:03.609 --> 00:02:06.069 of honors, it really speaks volumes, doesn't 00:02:06.069 --> 00:02:08.990 it? Right. Revered by critics, beloved by audiences, 00:02:09.270 --> 00:02:13.050 recognized by his peers. He cultivated this talent 00:02:13.050 --> 00:02:15.509 that felt completely spontaneous, just out of 00:02:15.509 --> 00:02:19.319 nowhere. clearly stemmed from this deeply intelligent, 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:23.319 almost dizzyingly fast mind. Exactly. So let's 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:25.620 start at the very beginning. Back in Ohio, where 00:02:25.620 --> 00:02:28.520 the complex roots of this creative powerhouse 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:30.620 first took hold. Right. Jonathan Winters was 00:02:30.620 --> 00:02:34.740 born in Dayton, Ohio, 1925. And his family, initially 00:02:34.740 --> 00:02:37.240 anyway, was really rooted deeply in the region's 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.759 establishment. They traced their lineage back 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:42.569 to Valentine Winters. who actually founded the 00:02:42.569 --> 00:02:44.969 Winters National Bank. Oh, wow. Okay. So a banking 00:02:44.969 --> 00:02:47.250 family. Yeah. So that background implies, you 00:02:47.250 --> 00:02:49.090 know, a certain expectation of privilege, maybe 00:02:49.090 --> 00:02:51.789 stability. Yeah. Which makes the turmoil that 00:02:51.789 --> 00:02:55.560 came later all the more. Right. Because the family 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:57.819 fortunes, which were tied to that old financial 00:02:57.819 --> 00:03:00.300 structure, they basically collapsed during the 00:03:00.300 --> 00:03:02.900 fallout of the Great Depression. So that stable 00:03:02.900 --> 00:03:05.199 environment he was born into, it just dissolved 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:08.240 pretty quickly, created a really volatile childhood 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:10.060 environment, not the kind of sheltered experience 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:14.919 you might associate with families of early TV 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:17.900 stars, maybe. Oh, far from it. The sources really 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:21.020 detail a childhood defined by significant emotional 00:03:21.020 --> 00:03:23.900 turmoil. His parents separated when Jonathan 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:27.020 was only seven years old. Just seven? Wow. And 00:03:27.020 --> 00:03:29.560 his father, well, he struggled with alcoholism, 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:32.139 which undoubtedly contributed to the instability. 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:35.180 After the separation, his mother moved him to 00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:37.400 Springfield, Ohio, where they went to live with 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:40.180 his maternal grandmother. Okay. So that displacement, 00:03:40.379 --> 00:03:42.819 that kind of fractured family environment, that 00:03:42.819 --> 00:03:44.699 really seems to have been the crucible for his 00:03:44.699 --> 00:03:47.439 whole creative response. And he spoke so candidly 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.129 about feeling isolated during this time. He actually 00:03:50.129 --> 00:03:52.610 noted, mother and dad didn't understand me. I 00:03:52.610 --> 00:03:54.810 didn't understand them. He felt adrift in what 00:03:54.810 --> 00:03:58.270 he called a strange kind of arrangement. It just 00:03:58.270 --> 00:04:00.509 sounds like an extremely lonely period where 00:04:00.509 --> 00:04:03.550 connection was really missing. Precisely. And 00:04:03.550 --> 00:04:06.590 the need to fill that void, that seems to have 00:04:06.590 --> 00:04:08.729 led directly to the genesis of his performance 00:04:08.729 --> 00:04:13.439 art. Alone in his room, the source material explains 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:16.680 how he started creating this entire universe 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.339 of characters and scenarios. Just by himself. 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:21.680 Yeah, he started interviewing himself, developing 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.680 these different personae that would later populate 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:26.259 his routines. This private world wasn't just 00:04:26.259 --> 00:04:29.240 like him messing around. It was his necessary 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:31.860 emotional outlet. And he also started developing 00:04:31.860 --> 00:04:35.060 that signature skill set, which went way beyond 00:04:35.060 --> 00:04:37.699 just voices, right? The sources mentioned he 00:04:37.699 --> 00:04:39.720 would entertain his high school friends by developing 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:41.920 this whole repertoire of strange sound effects, 00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:45.300 like imitating a high stakes race at the Indianapolis 00:04:45.300 --> 00:04:48.019 Motor Speedway. That specific example is amazing. 00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:50.279 To be able to create that whole atmosphere, the 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:52.959 roaring engines, the dynamics of the race just 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:55.459 through sound, it suggests this profound ability 00:04:55.459 --> 00:04:57.800 for observation and mimicry, even when he was 00:04:57.800 --> 00:04:59.800 really young. And this leads us right to that 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:02.500 critical analysis, the link between his pain 00:05:02.500 --> 00:05:05.879 and his performance. Winters openly admitted 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:08.500 that his entire adult life, this kind of ferocious 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:11.779 drive to be funny to generate laughter, was a 00:05:11.779 --> 00:05:14.720 direct response to the profound sorrow and pain 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:17.660 caused by his parents' divorce and the loneliness 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:20.000 that followed. He described confronting kids 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.480 who ridiculed him for not having a father around. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:25.339 He shared this memory, it's quite poignant, of 00:05:25.339 --> 00:05:27.680 deciding between going to a building or a tree 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.860 just to weep in despair before making this conscious 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:32.980 choice that he had to fight the despair with 00:05:32.980 --> 00:05:35.939 laughter. It positions his comedy not as some 00:05:35.939 --> 00:05:38.639 frivolous talent, but as a deeply necessary coping 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:41.600 mechanism, like a battle against internal chaos. 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:44.699 It connects his creative genius directly to that 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:47.100 source of internal noise and pain, which is a 00:05:47.100 --> 00:05:49.199 very modern way of looking at creativity now, 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:51.379 but maybe not so much then. Right. It wasn't 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:53.339 until he was 17 that he got sort of a structural 00:05:53.339 --> 00:05:55.939 break from this internal pressure. He quit high 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:57.899 school in 1943 to join the U .S. Marine Corps. 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:02.060 Oh, okay. World War II era. Exactly. Served two 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:03.620 and a half years in the Pacific Theater during 00:06:03.620 --> 00:06:06.379 World War II, achieving the rank of corporal. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.100 That must have been a fascinating juxtaposition, 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.000 right? The chaotic internal world of characters 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.540 suddenly subjected to the rigid discipline of 00:06:14.540 --> 00:06:16.680 the Marine Corps during wartime. You have to 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:19.759 imagine. When he returned, he used the GI Bill, 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:22.660 attended Kenyon College, and then really focused 00:06:22.660 --> 00:06:25.639 on his artistic side by studying cartooning at 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.000 the Dayton Art Institute. Ah, the art connection 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.420 again. Yeah. And it was at the Art Institute 00:06:30.420 --> 00:06:33.379 that he met Eileen Schotter. They got married 00:06:33.379 --> 00:06:37.379 in September 1948. And that marriage, it provides 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:40.579 this perfect, almost high -stakes origin story 00:06:40.579 --> 00:06:42.879 for his professional career, doesn't it? It really 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:44.519 does. It's a perfect bridge to our next section, 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:47.000 Section 2, The Invention of an Art Form. Because 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.160 the start of his professional career, I mean, 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:51.040 it sounds like something out of a classic Hollywood 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.620 script or maybe like a desperate vaudeville routine. 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:56.060 It was six or seven months into his marriage 00:06:56.060 --> 00:06:59.220 in 1948, and the source material really stresses 00:06:59.220 --> 00:07:03.300 they were absolutely flat broke. Yeah, completely 00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:05.800 impoverished. Poor enough that when Winters lost 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:07.980 his wristwatch, they just couldn't afford to 00:07:07.980 --> 00:07:11.730 replace it. Wow, a wristwatch. But... Eileen, 00:07:11.750 --> 00:07:14.870 his wife, she was already this profound believer 00:07:14.870 --> 00:07:18.569 in his raw, untapped talent. So she didn't buy 00:07:18.569 --> 00:07:21.550 him a watch. She pushed him, encouraged him to 00:07:21.550 --> 00:07:24.449 enter a local talent contest. And the first prize. 00:07:24.970 --> 00:07:27.209 Let me guess, a wristwatch. A new wristwatch, 00:07:27.350 --> 00:07:30.350 exactly. And he won it. That single, spontaneous, 00:07:30.529 --> 00:07:32.750 and probably slightly terrifying performance 00:07:32.750 --> 00:07:35.189 just set the entire machine in motion. It's an 00:07:35.189 --> 00:07:37.629 incredible story of talent meeting just sheer 00:07:37.629 --> 00:07:40.649 necessity. The momentum was immediate. That local 00:07:40.649 --> 00:07:43.519 win... quickly led to him getting jobs as a disc 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:46.740 jockey, first on Wing in Dayton, then Wise in 00:07:46.740 --> 00:07:49.180 Springfield. Back on the airwaves. But the confines 00:07:49.180 --> 00:07:51.060 of a traditional DJ role, well, they couldn't 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:53.459 hold him. He was supposed to do songs, read temperatures. 00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:56.800 But his spontaneous ad -libs, the different persona 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:59.480 he started developing even then, his antics. 00:07:59.980 --> 00:08:01.720 They quickly just took over the programming. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.300 The show became less about the music and more 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:06.860 about Johnny Winters, as he was known. Just being 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:09.000 Johnny Winters, he did two and a half years of 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:11.740 this on WBNS -TV in Columbus as well. But, you 00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:13.759 know, the big stage always calls for talent like 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:17.120 that. So with only $56 .46 in his pocket, which 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:19.699 even adjusted for inflation, is not a lot of 00:08:19.699 --> 00:08:21.980 money. No, not at all. He moved to Greenwich 00:08:21.980 --> 00:08:24.779 Village in New York City. And crucially, he made 00:08:24.779 --> 00:08:27.279 this promise to his wife, Eileen, that he would 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:29.980 return to Dayton if he hadn't made it within 00:08:29.980 --> 00:08:32.440 one year. Talk about pressure. That's a serious 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:35.059 commitment and just a huge gamble on raw talent. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.200 The pressure was immense. But the talent, well, 00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:40.440 it delivered. His breakthrough came pretty quickly, 00:08:40.539 --> 00:08:42.919 right after he started performing under the revised 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:45.820 professional name Jonathan. Ah, so he dropped 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:48.370 the Johnny. Yeah. His work with Alistair Cooke 00:08:48.370 --> 00:08:50.909 on the CBS show Omnibus, that sort of paved the 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:53.269 way. Yeah. His earliest network TV appearance 00:08:53.269 --> 00:08:56.789 was in 1954. But what happened just two years 00:08:56.789 --> 00:09:00.250 later, in 56, that fundamentally changed television 00:09:00.250 --> 00:09:03.059 history. This is a point that I think often gets 00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:05.740 lost when people just talk about his characters, 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:09.000 his technical pioneering. He didn't just adapt 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:11.620 to the medium. He actually helped define its 00:09:11.620 --> 00:09:15.299 future capabilities. Absolutely. In 1956, he 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:18.799 hosted the Jonathan Winter Show. And RCA selected 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.179 that show as the platform for the first public 00:09:21.179 --> 00:09:23.639 demonstration of color videotape technology. 00:09:23.980 --> 00:09:26.960 Wow. Okay, that's huge. Think about the significance. 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:29.220 This wasn't just some dry technical showcase. 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:32.500 Winters, the ultimate improviser, immediately 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:35.419 saw the comedic potential of this brand new technology. 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:37.940 He didn't just see it. He used it. Right. He 00:09:37.940 --> 00:09:41.090 used the color videotape. specifically its ability 00:09:41.090 --> 00:09:43.970 to edit and layer images, to appear simultaneously 00:09:43.970 --> 00:09:46.470 as two separate characters. He'd stand on one 00:09:46.470 --> 00:09:48.529 side of a split screen bantering with himself 00:09:48.529 --> 00:09:50.649 on the other side. He essentially invented the 00:09:50.649 --> 00:09:52.970 video stunt, or what we now recognize as the 00:09:52.970 --> 00:09:55.149 split screen comedy effect. It's a staple of 00:09:55.149 --> 00:09:57.490 sketch comedy digital media today. And he was 00:09:57.490 --> 00:10:01.070 doing it in 1956? He was utilizing the medium's 00:10:01.070 --> 00:10:03.909 future capabilities before almost anyone else 00:10:03.909 --> 00:10:06.230 even grasped that the technology had comedic 00:10:06.230 --> 00:10:09.629 applications. It just shows his genius was visual 00:10:09.629 --> 00:10:12.289 and technical, not just verbal. It absolutely 00:10:12.289 --> 00:10:15.330 does. And his unpredictability, which, yeah, 00:10:15.389 --> 00:10:17.029 it might have worried some network executives. 00:10:17.110 --> 00:10:20.789 That was exactly what made him a favorite of 00:10:20.789 --> 00:10:22.970 the late night hosts who thrived on that spontaneous 00:10:22.970 --> 00:10:26.149 energy. He was a constant on The Tonight Show 00:10:26.149 --> 00:10:29.870 with Jack Parr from 57 to 62. And the legend 00:10:29.870 --> 00:10:32.610 of the pranks started here, too, right? He famously 00:10:32.610 --> 00:10:35.210 pulled off that elaborate stunt where he impersonated 00:10:35.210 --> 00:10:37.370 then President John F. Kennedy over the telephone. 00:10:37.529 --> 00:10:39.470 Yes. Calling into the show. Calling into the 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:42.090 show to speak with Pear. I mean, that kind of 00:10:42.090 --> 00:10:45.210 bold high wire act just spoke to his willingness 00:10:45.210 --> 00:10:47.629 to cross any boundary for a laugh. And that paved 00:10:47.629 --> 00:10:50.009 the way for his later, maybe even more defining 00:10:50.009 --> 00:10:53.169 chemistry with Johnny Carson. Winters was a constant 00:10:53.169 --> 00:10:55.669 and a clear favorite on The Tonight Show starring 00:10:55.669 --> 00:10:57.789 Johnny Carson. Yeah, those appearances are legendary. 00:10:58.250 --> 00:11:00.509 And what's crucial for us, and for you listening 00:11:00.509 --> 00:11:04.289 to Grasp, is that his material was never scripted. 00:11:04.509 --> 00:11:08.769 Never. It was 100 % improvisational. That required 00:11:08.769 --> 00:11:11.509 an incredible degree of confidence in him, the 00:11:11.509 --> 00:11:14.570 performer, but also tremendous skill from the 00:11:14.570 --> 00:11:17.299 interviewer, right? Mm -hmm. Carson, the master, 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:20.620 often had to work overtime just to provide the 00:11:20.620 --> 00:11:23.080 structural scaffolding. Totally. Using those 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:25.539 open -ended questions to kind of tease out the 00:11:25.539 --> 00:11:27.899 character's backstory because Winters was just 00:11:27.899 --> 00:11:30.539 showing up as someone entirely new, fully formed, 00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:33.179 every single time he sat down on that couch. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.919 It was a tightrope walk every single time. Carson 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:38.059 was acting as the necessary anchor, asking the 00:11:38.059 --> 00:11:40.200 right question at the right moment to give the 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:41.940 audience a handhold. You know, so they could 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:44.039 follow Winters down whatever comedic rabbit hole 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:46.399 he was digging. That dynamic relied entirely 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:48.860 on Winters' unique ability to maintain character 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:51.919 consistency while operating at this completely 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:55.019 frenetic, spontaneous pace. It's incredible to 00:11:55.019 --> 00:11:56.840 watch. And while he was conquering late night, 00:11:56.980 --> 00:12:00.720 his voice work became instantly iconic. And let's 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:02.779 be honest, incredibly lucrative, too. We have 00:12:02.779 --> 00:12:04.519 to talk about his commercial work. Oh, yeah. 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:06.759 The commercials gave his character such longevity 00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:10.399 and wide appeal. For instance, from 1959 to 1964, 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:13.720 he was the sole voice behind those beloved television 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:17.059 commercials for Utica Club Beer. He created the 00:12:17.059 --> 00:12:20.679 distinct voices for the talking beer steins Schultz 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:23.200 and Dooley. Schultz and Dooley, I remember those. 00:12:23.299 --> 00:12:25.960 They became household names, far transcending 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:28.350 the actual product they were advertising. He 00:12:28.350 --> 00:12:30.350 also maintained that incredibly long -running 00:12:30.350 --> 00:12:33.669 dig as the dapper garbage man for hefty brand 00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:37.570 trash bags. Known for his specific, almost aristocratic 00:12:37.570 --> 00:12:40.789 pronunciation of collecting the garbage. That 00:12:40.789 --> 00:12:44.090 character was just a master class in making the 00:12:44.090 --> 00:12:47.039 mundane totally absurd. turning a simple product 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:50.000 spokesperson role into like a piece of performance 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.220 art. He was just a character machine. And this 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:54.679 era also coincided with his dedicated recording 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:57.179 career on Verve Records. He launched with The 00:12:57.179 --> 00:12:59.259 Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters in 1960. 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:02.179 And he had the kind of sustained relevance that 00:13:02.179 --> 00:13:04.700 very few comedians ever achieve, releasing successful 00:13:04.700 --> 00:13:07.220 comedy albums basically every decade for over 00:13:07.220 --> 00:13:10.460 50 years. He amassed 11 Grammy nominations in 00:13:10.460 --> 00:13:13.080 total, including eight just for Best Comedy Album. 00:13:13.370 --> 00:13:15.809 Wow. Eight for best comedy album. That's consistency. 00:13:16.029 --> 00:13:19.789 Yeah. Speaking of those albums and his pantheon 00:13:19.789 --> 00:13:22.129 of creations, let's now transition into Section 00:13:22.129 --> 00:13:25.610 3 and really try to define his unique comedy 00:13:25.610 --> 00:13:28.529 style and those signature personae that became 00:13:28.529 --> 00:13:31.370 legendary staples in American humor. Yeah, the 00:13:31.370 --> 00:13:33.809 sources consistently define him as the pioneer 00:13:33.809 --> 00:13:37.370 of improvisational stand -up comedy, possessing 00:13:37.370 --> 00:13:40.330 that, quote, seemingly bottomless reservoir of 00:13:40.330 --> 00:13:42.870 creative energy. He was just a phenomenal master 00:13:42.870 --> 00:13:45.850 of mimicry, capable of instantly embodying figures. 00:13:46.029 --> 00:13:48.929 from John Wayne and Cary Grant to James Cagney 00:13:48.929 --> 00:13:50.809 and Groucho Marx, sometimes shifting between 00:13:50.809 --> 00:13:53.029 them in a single breath. But the key distinction, 00:13:53.190 --> 00:13:55.070 which he always stressed himself, was that he 00:13:55.070 --> 00:13:57.330 wasn't really interested in the traditional structure 00:13:57.330 --> 00:14:00.330 of a joke, like set up, punchline. Right. He 00:14:00.330 --> 00:14:02.440 was quoted saying... I was fighting for the fact 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:04.120 that you could be funny without telling jokes, 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:06.919 which was pretty subversive in an era when most 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:08.860 stand -ups relied so heavily on pre -written 00:14:08.860 --> 00:14:11.320 material. Absolutely. And he considered himself 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:13.659 foremost a writer, even more than a stand -up 00:14:13.659 --> 00:14:16.200 comedian. That's such a powerful insight into 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:19.460 his process, I think. A writer first. When he 00:14:19.460 --> 00:14:22.269 improvised, he was constructing narrative. Building 00:14:22.269 --> 00:14:25.690 a world, not just delivering gags. He idolized 00:14:25.690 --> 00:14:28.090 writers known for their sophisticated humor and 00:14:28.090 --> 00:14:30.710 absurdity, specifically naming James Thurber 00:14:30.710 --> 00:14:33.549 as a major influence. Ah, Thurber. Yeah. Okay, 00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:36.169 that makes sense. So his goal wasn't just belly 00:14:36.169 --> 00:14:38.549 laughs. It was observational, often absurd, and 00:14:38.549 --> 00:14:40.870 always character -driven social critique, kind 00:14:40.870 --> 00:14:43.029 of in the style of Thurber. Exactly. That explains 00:14:43.029 --> 00:14:44.870 the immense breadth of his characters, then. 00:14:44.929 --> 00:14:48.850 He created this legendary pantheon of personae, 00:14:48.950 --> 00:14:52.220 which included everything from, like, Nerve -shattered 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:55.500 airline pilots trying to hide their fear to disgruntled 00:14:55.500 --> 00:14:58.799 Westerners, hillbillies, arrogant city slickers, 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:01.600 and, my personal favorite, those judgmental Martians. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:04.440 The Martians were brilliant, but two characters 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:06.679 in particular completely transcended his stage 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:09.059 and television work and became true cultural 00:15:09.059 --> 00:15:12.019 icons. We absolutely have to start with Maude 00:15:12.019 --> 00:15:15.879 Frickert. Ah, Maude Frickert, yes. The seemingly 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:18.220 sweet little old lady who, the second she opened 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:21.100 her mouth, revealed the most barbed, McTung in 00:15:21.100 --> 00:15:23.899 show business. She was just a masterclass in 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:26.519 inverting expectations. She was named, quite 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:29.600 appropriately, for the comedic actress Maudie 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:32.379 Prickett. And Maud was so brilliantly developed 00:15:32.379 --> 00:15:35.080 that she achieved this pop culture immortality 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:37.860 really on her own terms. She was featured in 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:39.620 animated form on the new Scooby -Doo movies. 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:42.659 And years later, Winters brought her back in 00:15:42.659 --> 00:15:45.720 his 2010 book, Maud Frickert Tells All. That 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:48.340 longevity just proves that Maude wasn't just 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:50.919 some gimmick, right? She was a complete, compelling 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:54.179 character with this consistent, if very critical 00:15:54.179 --> 00:15:57.519 worldview. Totally. And then there was the unforgettable 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.799 bumpkin farmer, Elwood P. Suggins. Elwood P. 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:03.919 Suggins, the quintessential country bumpkin whose 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.340 entire existence seems centered around the farm 00:16:06.340 --> 00:16:09.320 and the most basic of needs. His defining, almost 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:12.179 philosophical catchphrase was, ah. I think eggs 00:16:12.179 --> 00:16:14.539 24 hours a day. I think eggs 24 hours a day. 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:16.940 It's a specific strange details that make the 00:16:16.940 --> 00:16:19.500 character so memorable. They aren't generic archetypes. 00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:21.799 They feel like fully observed, slightly bizarre 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:24.899 individuals. And his dedication to this craft, 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:28.100 it paid off across multiple generations. His 00:16:28.100 --> 00:16:30.879 recording career really cemented his status as 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:35.139 a lasting genius. As we mentioned. 11 total Grammy 00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:37.679 nomination. Incredible. He finally won the Grammy 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.700 Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album in 1996 for 00:16:40.700 --> 00:16:43.500 Cranky Calls. Cranky Calls, right. He also picked 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:45.460 up a Grammy for Best Album for Children much 00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:49.159 earlier in 1975 for his contribution to an adaptation 00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:52.460 of The Little Prince. Wow, the range there. From 00:16:52.460 --> 00:16:54.860 Cranky Calls to children's literature, that's 00:16:54.860 --> 00:16:57.519 a stunning example of his adaptability. Absolutely. 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:00.279 The recording career is a perfect metric of his 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:02.419 endurance, I think. But it also brings us to 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:04.180 the source of some of that enduring energy which 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.880 leads us into section four yeah the shadow of 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.539 genius this involves the uh the complexity that 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:13.329 fueled so much of his output His struggles with 00:17:13.329 --> 00:17:15.710 mental health. Yeah, his absolutely vital context 00:17:15.710 --> 00:17:18.089 for understanding him. Jonathan Winters was one 00:17:18.089 --> 00:17:20.589 of the very first major public figures, I mean, 00:17:20.609 --> 00:17:23.609 a celebrity on primetime television, to go public 00:17:23.609 --> 00:17:25.589 with his personal struggles with mental illness. 00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:28.170 He suffered from nervous breakdowns and was diagnosed 00:17:28.170 --> 00:17:31.170 with bipolar disorder. In the 1950s and 60s, 00:17:31.170 --> 00:17:34.109 that level of transparency was just almost unheard 00:17:34.109 --> 00:17:36.250 of. And it certainly carried immense cultural 00:17:36.250 --> 00:17:39.569 risk back then. A huge risk. And he didn't shy 00:17:39.569 --> 00:17:42.180 away from discussing the stigma either. He noted 00:17:42.180 --> 00:17:44.660 that he felt profoundly marked and judged as 00:17:44.660 --> 00:17:46.579 a result of being so open about his illness. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.279 The hospitalization details provided in the sources 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:52.220 are pretty sobering. He spent eight months in 00:17:52.220 --> 00:17:55.420 a private psychiatric hospital in 1959 and was 00:17:55.420 --> 00:17:57.660 hospitalized again shortly thereafter in 1961. 00:17:58.380 --> 00:18:02.279 Yeah. But what truly sets Winters apart, I think, 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:04.319 is how he almost immediately began processing 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:07.380 and integrating these obscure, painful references 00:18:07.380 --> 00:18:10.930 into his professional routines right away. He 00:18:10.930 --> 00:18:13.309 used comedy not just to cope, but to kind of 00:18:13.309 --> 00:18:15.309 reclaim the narrative, didn't he? The most famous 00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:17.710 example comes from that 1960 comedy album, The 00:18:17.710 --> 00:18:19.849 Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters, during his 00:18:19.849 --> 00:18:22.630 iconic flying saucer routine. Right. In the middle 00:18:22.630 --> 00:18:25.049 of this completely frenetic, totally spontaneous 00:18:25.049 --> 00:18:27.890 performance about Martians landing, he just casually 00:18:27.890 --> 00:18:29.849 mentions to the audience that if he wasn't careful, 00:18:29.950 --> 00:18:31.450 the authorities might put him back in the zoo. 00:18:31.650 --> 00:18:34.960 The zoo. Wow. That was his specific coded reference 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:37.900 to the psychiatric institution. Exactly. That's 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:40.500 incredibly powerful. It's so subversive, almost 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:43.519 defiant for the time, using humor to sort of 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:46.359 defang the horror of the experience. It signals 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:49.140 that he retained control over his identity, even 00:18:49.140 --> 00:18:52.819 if his mind felt chaotic. And he spoke so openly 00:18:52.819 --> 00:18:56.640 about the internal mechanics that drove his improvisational 00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:59.579 style. There's that quote. These voices are always 00:18:59.579 --> 00:19:02.000 screaming to get out. They follow me around pretty 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:04.519 much all day and night. That quote more than 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:07.140 anything else it just redefines his improvisational 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:10.019 style doesn't it? It suggests that the bottomless 00:19:10.019 --> 00:19:13.640 reservoir of creative energy wasn't just an artistic 00:19:13.640 --> 00:19:16.880 choice. It was a necessary survival mechanism. 00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:19.339 Absolutely. The characters were like an essential 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:22.079 release valve for the constant chaotic chatter 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.859 of those internal voices. It really makes improvisation 00:19:24.859 --> 00:19:27.359 feel like necessary therapy for him. And that 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.720 profound dynamic, that's what bonded him so deeply 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:31.519 with Robin Williams. This is the relationship 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:34.019 that every improviser today still references. 00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:37.339 Williams didn't just call Winters his idol. He 00:19:37.339 --> 00:19:39.789 explicitly referred to him as his mentor. Williams 00:19:39.789 --> 00:19:42.269 understood that process better than almost anyone 00:19:42.269 --> 00:19:45.049 you'd think. He offered this deep, invaluable 00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:48.190 insight into Winters' creative engine, observing 00:19:48.190 --> 00:19:50.470 that the characters were a great way for Winters 00:19:50.470 --> 00:19:53.130 to talk about painful stuff. Yeah, that's key. 00:19:53.470 --> 00:19:55.529 Williams understood that the Personae weren't 00:19:55.529 --> 00:19:57.710 just random inventions. They were often based 00:19:57.710 --> 00:20:00.190 on real, difficult, sometimes traumatic people 00:20:00.190 --> 00:20:03.150 in Winters' own life, like his mother or his 00:20:03.150 --> 00:20:05.529 aunt. It connects the emotional truth of the 00:20:05.529 --> 00:20:08.829 painful past directly to the comedic genius of 00:20:08.829 --> 00:20:11.910 the present. Williams saw that the characters 00:20:11.910 --> 00:20:14.690 were these carefully crafted observations of 00:20:14.690 --> 00:20:17.710 human dysfunction, just channeled through chaos. 00:20:18.049 --> 00:20:20.769 And their relationship resulted in that famous, 00:20:20.990 --> 00:20:24.029 utterly bizarre collaboration on the sitcom Mork 00:20:24.029 --> 00:20:26.869 & Mindy. Right. Winters joined the show for its 00:20:26.869 --> 00:20:29.410 fourth and final season in 1981, playing the 00:20:29.410 --> 00:20:31.930 role of Mirth, Mork, and Mindy's child. And the 00:20:31.930 --> 00:20:34.490 writers, they had to invent this truly complex 00:20:34.490 --> 00:20:37.869 Orkin physiology just to justify how this adult 00:20:37.869 --> 00:20:40.630 man could possibly be Mork's newborn son. The 00:20:40.630 --> 00:20:42.730 explanation is legendary in sitcom lore, isn't 00:20:42.730 --> 00:20:44.950 it? Mork being an Orkin, he lays an egg. Right, 00:20:44.990 --> 00:20:48.369 an egg. Which then hatches not into a baby, but 00:20:48.369 --> 00:20:51.369 into the much older Jonathan Winters. The absurd 00:20:51.369 --> 00:20:54.420 explanation was that Orkin's aged backwards. 00:20:54.660 --> 00:20:58.640 It was just a bold, maybe desperate attempt to 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:02.380 pair the two improvisational titans, right? Recognizing 00:21:02.380 --> 00:21:04.220 that the only way to integrate Winter's unique 00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:07.160 talent was through complete science fiction absurdity. 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:09.880 Pretty much. Although the show was already struggling 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:13.039 and that season ended up being the last, it still 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:15.720 remains this testament to their shared frenetic 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:18.119 energy and the mutual respect they obviously 00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:20.579 had for each other. It's hard to imagine two 00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:22.619 comedians who could possibly match that pace 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:25.309 on screen together. Totally. Let's shift now 00:21:25.309 --> 00:21:27.529 to Section 5, covering his film, television, 00:21:27.710 --> 00:21:30.390 and other artistic output, which often had to 00:21:30.390 --> 00:21:32.509 contend with that unpredictable brilliance we've 00:21:32.509 --> 00:21:34.369 been talking about. Yeah, and it's crucial to 00:21:34.369 --> 00:21:36.670 acknowledge the paradox here. Because of that 00:21:36.670 --> 00:21:39.250 beautiful unpredictability, Winters was often 00:21:39.250 --> 00:21:41.829 viewed by cautious producers as a potential liability. 00:21:42.250 --> 00:21:44.829 Yeah, I bet. He was this force of nature that 00:21:44.829 --> 00:21:47.650 was just impossible to totally structure on a 00:21:47.650 --> 00:21:50.490 tightly controlled script or budget. Yet despite 00:21:50.490 --> 00:21:53.130 this, he managed to maintain a truly memorable 00:21:53.130 --> 00:21:56.400 film career. His most recognized film role is 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:59.480 absolutely Lenny Pike, the frantic demolition 00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:01.980 derby driver in Stanley Kramer's epic comedy. 00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:06.119 It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world from 1963. He 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:08.339 got a Golden Globe nomination for that performance. 00:22:08.700 --> 00:22:11.720 That film was notorious for its gigantic ensemble 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:14.900 cast of comedy legends, right? But the anecdotes 00:22:14.900 --> 00:22:17.240 from the set, they confirm Winter's unique status 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:20.400 even among them. Co -stars like Arnold Stang 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:22.799 recalled that during the incredibly long periods 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:24.859 waiting between scenes, which were common on 00:22:24.859 --> 00:22:27.279 a production, that huge Winters would spontaneously 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:29.640 entertain the cast and crew for hours in the 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:32.420 trailer. Just performing, not practicing lines. 00:22:32.619 --> 00:22:35.039 No, performing. Stang specifically noted that 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:36.839 Winters would instantly become any character 00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:38.799 suggested to him by the other actors. He was 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.000 performing constantly, maybe simply because those 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:43.559 internal voices needed an outlet, showcasing 00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:45.980 the same spontaneous genius he displayed on Carson, 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:49.440 but just for the crew. That's amazing. He also 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:51.720 showed remarkable versatility, though. He took 00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:55.099 on dual roles in the 1965 film adaptation of 00:22:55.099 --> 00:22:57.339 Evelyn Waugh's novel The Loved One. Oh, yeah, 00:22:57.380 --> 00:22:59.859 playing both the wealthy funeral homeowner, Henry 00:22:59.859 --> 00:23:03.200 Glenworthy, and his dark, scheming brother, the 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:06.279 Reverend Wilbur Glenworthy. He proved he could 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:08.579 handle nuanced dramatic weight alongside the 00:23:08.579 --> 00:23:10.980 chaotic comedy. And his dramatic range often 00:23:10.980 --> 00:23:13.059 gets overlooked, I think. He appeared in that 00:23:13.059 --> 00:23:16.619 classic 1961 Twilight Zone episode, A Game of 00:23:16.619 --> 00:23:19.460 Pool. A great one. And much later in his career, 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:22.180 he took a serious role as Wainwright Cranston, 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.200 the secular police chief and uncle of the main 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:28.599 character, in The Shadow in 1994. Right. The 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:31.039 shift from Maude Frickert to a quiet, dramatic 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:33.720 police chief is pretty astonishing when you think 00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.150 about it. Definitely. Despite the film industry's 00:23:36.150 --> 00:23:38.009 difficulty in maybe containing him, his heart 00:23:38.009 --> 00:23:40.230 seemed to remain in the variety show format that 00:23:40.230 --> 00:23:43.589 allowed him maximum freedom. From 1967 to 1969, 00:23:43.930 --> 00:23:46.809 he helmed his own hour -long weekly variety program, 00:23:47.029 --> 00:23:49.470 The Jonathan Winters Show. Yeah, that show is 00:23:49.470 --> 00:23:51.650 a great platform for his characters and sketches, 00:23:51.769 --> 00:23:54.849 like Maude Frickert and Elwood P. Suggins. But 00:23:54.849 --> 00:23:57.190 it also included some truly unexpected guest 00:23:57.190 --> 00:24:00.970 stars. Like, including... The Doors. The Doors. 00:24:01.089 --> 00:24:04.509 On the Jonathan Winters show, that cultural mashup 00:24:04.509 --> 00:24:06.710 of a classic character comedian hosting this 00:24:06.710 --> 00:24:09.970 psychedelic rock band gives you a real sense 00:24:09.970 --> 00:24:12.890 of his wide appeal and maybe his willingness 00:24:12.890 --> 00:24:16.109 to just embrace chaos. He often included an audience 00:24:16.109 --> 00:24:18.430 request section, too, where he'd take suggestions 00:24:18.430 --> 00:24:20.670 and perform totally off -the -cuff impressions 00:24:20.670 --> 00:24:24.190 in absurd situations, like John Wayne on the 00:24:24.190 --> 00:24:26.349 Moon. John Wayne on the Moon. Classic. It was 00:24:26.349 --> 00:24:30.730 just pure, raw, creative energy. And his later 00:24:30.730 --> 00:24:33.150 television success did cement his ability to 00:24:33.150 --> 00:24:36.250 structure that genius somewhat. In 1991, he won 00:24:36.250 --> 00:24:39.170 the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting 00:24:39.170 --> 00:24:42.029 Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Gunny Davis, 00:24:42.309 --> 00:24:44.289 the eccentric grandfather on that short -lived 00:24:44.289 --> 00:24:46.930 sitcom, Davis Rules. Davis Rules, right. That 00:24:46.930 --> 00:24:48.809 Emmy confirmed that he could succeed even within 00:24:48.809 --> 00:24:51.130 the, you know, the strictures of a multi -camera 00:24:51.130 --> 00:24:53.519 sitcom when the role was right. And of course, 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:56.019 we absolutely must discuss the Smurf connection, 00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:58.539 which kind of serves as a funny bookend to his 00:24:58.539 --> 00:25:00.960 long career. He was the voice of Grandpa Smurf 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.680 on the Smurfs TV series from 1986 to 1990. Grandpa 00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:07.779 Smurf. And then... Incredibly, he returned two 00:25:07.779 --> 00:25:09.859 decades later to voice Papa Smurf in the live 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:12.920 -action films The Smurfs in 2011 and The Smurfs 00:25:12.920 --> 00:25:17.079 2 in 2013. Wow. So he introduced his voice work 00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:19.960 to a completely new generation of kids right 00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:22.400 at the end of his life. Pretty much. Finally, 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:24.500 we have to emphasize that this drive to create 00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:26.980 wasn't limited just to performance. He was a 00:25:26.980 --> 00:25:29.460 dedicated visual artist and author. He spent 00:25:29.460 --> 00:25:32.099 significant time painting, presenting his silkscreens 00:25:32.099 --> 00:25:34.380 and sketches in numerous gallery shows and exhibitions. 00:25:35.049 --> 00:25:37.049 That suggests that if the internal pressure couldn't 00:25:37.049 --> 00:25:38.529 be channeled through a character, it maybe needs 00:25:38.529 --> 00:25:40.529 to be channeled to the canvas or the page, right? 00:25:40.650 --> 00:25:43.529 Seems likely. He published Winter's Tales, Stories 00:25:43.529 --> 00:25:46.549 and Observations for the Unusual in 1987, and 00:25:46.549 --> 00:25:49.049 a collection of his artwork, Hang Ups, Paintings 00:25:49.049 --> 00:25:52.730 by Jonathan Winters in 1988. He was truly a multidisciplinary 00:25:52.730 --> 00:25:55.670 artist driven by this constant, maybe overwhelming 00:25:55.670 --> 00:25:58.630 need to express those internal voices. That constant 00:25:58.630 --> 00:26:01.150 drive really ensured that his influence wasn't 00:26:01.150 --> 00:26:03.640 confined to his own generation. Which brings 00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:06.960 us neatly to section six, legacy, final thoughts, 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:09.460 and his ultimate self -assessment. Yeah, the 00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:11.700 list of comedians he inspired is basically a 00:26:11.700 --> 00:26:14.660 roster of modern comedy royalty. Yeah. Rog Williams, 00:26:14.900 --> 00:26:17.339 of course, tops that list, but also Johnny Carson, 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:20.779 who just understood him implicitly. Billy Crystal, 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:23.799 Tracy Ullman, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Jim 00:26:23.799 --> 00:26:26.609 Carrey, Jimmy Kimmel. It's huge. When you watch 00:26:26.609 --> 00:26:29.049 the spontaneous, character -driven work of someone 00:26:29.049 --> 00:26:31.569 like Carrie or Crystal, you are seeing a direct 00:26:31.569 --> 00:26:34.029 line right back to Winters. He established the 00:26:34.029 --> 00:26:36.150 foundational blueprint for improvisational sketch 00:26:36.150 --> 00:26:38.549 and character comedy. Winters died of natural 00:26:38.549 --> 00:26:42.680 causes on April 11, 2013 at the age of 87. a 00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:45.740 long life. And in a fitting final tribute, the 00:26:45.740 --> 00:26:47.740 Smurfs too was actually dedicated to his memory 00:26:47.740 --> 00:26:50.000 as he passed away only nine days after finishing 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:52.279 recording the dialogue for Papa Smurf. Literally 00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:54.779 his last project. The tributes that followed 00:26:54.779 --> 00:26:56.720 were immense, but none felt quite as heartfelt 00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:58.779 or revealing as Robin Williams' social media 00:26:58.779 --> 00:27:01.700 post. It summarized their relationship and winter 00:27:01.700 --> 00:27:04.079 significance just perfectly. Yeah, what did it 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:06.740 say again? Williams wrote, first he was my idol, 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:09.380 then he was my mentor and amazing friend. I'll 00:27:09.380 --> 00:27:12.349 miss him huge. He was my comedy Buddha. Long 00:27:12.349 --> 00:27:15.289 live the Buddha. Comedy Buddha. That's perfect 00:27:15.289 --> 00:27:18.130 for Winters. So what does this all mean for us, 00:27:18.150 --> 00:27:20.829 for you listening? The enduring relevance of 00:27:20.829 --> 00:27:23.150 Jonathan Winters, I think, is that he fundamentally 00:27:23.150 --> 00:27:26.730 proved that true, lasting, comedic genius comes 00:27:26.730 --> 00:27:29.069 not from tight scripts or focus group material. 00:27:29.289 --> 00:27:31.869 Right. But from deep observation, disciplined 00:27:31.869 --> 00:27:34.589 writing, and the radical freedom to pursue the 00:27:34.589 --> 00:27:37.829 completely spontaneous. He showed that you can, 00:27:37.970 --> 00:27:40.589 and perhaps must, embrace your own complexity 00:27:40.589 --> 00:27:43.690 and vulnerability. Even if being wildly unpredictable 00:27:43.690 --> 00:27:46.650 often made him a headache for the systems that 00:27:46.650 --> 00:27:48.630 tried to contain him. His legacy is really an 00:27:48.630 --> 00:27:50.589 argument against conformity, isn't it? You don't 00:27:50.589 --> 00:27:52.930 have to fit into some standardized box to achieve 00:27:52.930 --> 00:27:55.009 success, but you do have to find your own definition 00:27:55.009 --> 00:27:58.069 of success. And his self -assessment of his place 00:27:58.069 --> 00:27:59.829 in the entertainment industry Olympics is the 00:27:59.829 --> 00:28:01.890 perfect summation of his unique career path. 00:28:02.349 --> 00:28:04.670 Oh, yeah, that quote. He was once asked where 00:28:04.670 --> 00:28:06.750 he placed himself among the great comedians, 00:28:06.829 --> 00:28:09.269 and he gave that memorable analogy about the 00:28:09.269 --> 00:28:12.289 Olympics. He claimed his place was inside the 00:28:12.289 --> 00:28:14.710 box, underneath the guy receiving the gold medal. 00:28:14.829 --> 00:28:17.849 I'm fondling a platinum medallion. Fondling a 00:28:17.849 --> 00:28:21.329 platinum medallion. He knew he was the raw, unclassifiable 00:28:21.329 --> 00:28:23.609 gold standard that couldn't really be quantified 00:28:23.609 --> 00:28:26.470 by traditional metrics. He was the essential, 00:28:26.670 --> 00:28:29.990 maybe hidden foundation of modern character -based 00:28:29.990 --> 00:28:33.240 improv and sketch comedy. even while collecting 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:35.759 all those institutional awards himself. That 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:38.140 willingness to just go his own way, to stick 00:28:38.140 --> 00:28:40.420 his head out, it defined his professional career 00:28:40.420 --> 00:28:42.380 and his journey through his public mental health 00:28:42.380 --> 00:28:44.819 struggles. He left us with a few gems of wisdom, 00:28:44.900 --> 00:28:47.700 too, that apply to perseverance and taking initiative 00:28:47.700 --> 00:28:49.920 in pretty much any field. He told us, if your 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:52.460 ship doesn't come in, swim out to meet it, which 00:28:52.460 --> 00:28:54.980 is just a powerful call to action, urging self 00:28:54.980 --> 00:28:57.660 -reliance. And my favorite, which really speaks 00:28:57.660 --> 00:29:00.660 to his own cautious yet somehow inevitable forward 00:29:00.660 --> 00:29:03.720 movement. Behold the turtle. The only time he 00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:05.539 makes progress is when he sticks out his head. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:08.559 That bravery, that willingness to be vulnerable 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:11.079 and expose the chaos of his mind and then turn 00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:13.299 it into brilliant art, it defined his entire 00:29:13.299 --> 00:29:16.440 career. And we are sort of left to wonder, in 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:19.559 an era like today, obsessed with polished narratives 00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:22.140 and controlled brand images, where authenticity 00:29:22.140 --> 00:29:25.480 is so often curated, could a comedian with such 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:28.160 raw, unfiltered genius and public vulnerability 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:31.000 actually break through today? It's a great question. 00:29:31.099 --> 00:29:33.460 His greatness was maybe rooted in the fact that 00:29:33.460 --> 00:29:35.640 he was simply incapable of being filtered. We 00:29:35.640 --> 00:29:37.740 really encourage you, if you haven't, seek out 00:29:37.740 --> 00:29:39.359 his appearances on The Tonight Show starring 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:42.619 Johnny Carson. Just witness the pure, unscripted 00:29:42.619 --> 00:29:44.539 spontaneity that launched a thousand other comedy 00:29:44.539 --> 00:29:47.079 careers. That level of risk and invention is 00:29:47.079 --> 00:29:47.980 truly something to behold.