Farewell, Jonathan Winters
Damn, damn, damn.
Great sadness -- one of the funniest men alive has passed. Comic actor Jonathan Winters has passed away at the age of 87.
If you don't know of Winters and his work, I'm not sure where to start. Comedy movies, variety shows, dramatic roles... but he was best known for his stand-up, and especially his improv. The only performer I can think of who came close to him is Tim Conway. Robin Williams and Jim Carrey were inspired to comedy by Winters, and you can see it in almost everything they do. (My idle fantasy of the ultimate Whose Line Is It Anyway? pay-per-view with Winters, Conway, Williams, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Mike McShane is now ashes. Sigh.) Winters hammered out funny lines, odd voices, and various sound effects faster than anybody. He was a hero of mine, and I hope a little of that shows in my stage work.
For longer than many of us have been alive, Jonathan Winters made us laugh. That's a pretty damn good legacy.
Rest well, sir, and thanks.
This entry was originally posted at http://filkertom.dreamwidth.org/1612267.html. You may comment there or here, although LJ tends to have a livelier conversation at this time.
Great sadness -- one of the funniest men alive has passed. Comic actor Jonathan Winters has passed away at the age of 87.
If you don't know of Winters and his work, I'm not sure where to start. Comedy movies, variety shows, dramatic roles... but he was best known for his stand-up, and especially his improv. The only performer I can think of who came close to him is Tim Conway. Robin Williams and Jim Carrey were inspired to comedy by Winters, and you can see it in almost everything they do. (My idle fantasy of the ultimate Whose Line Is It Anyway? pay-per-view with Winters, Conway, Williams, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Mike McShane is now ashes. Sigh.) Winters hammered out funny lines, odd voices, and various sound effects faster than anybody. He was a hero of mine, and I hope a little of that shows in my stage work.
For longer than many of us have been alive, Jonathan Winters made us laugh. That's a pretty damn good legacy.
Rest well, sir, and thanks.
This entry was originally posted at http://filkertom.dreamwidth.org/1612267.html. You may comment there or here, although LJ tends to have a livelier conversation at this time.