By Ken Hall

Jonathan Winters is loved by millions for his quirky, offbeat sense of humor. Immersing himself in characters like "Maude Frickert" and "Chester Honeyhugger," Winters has endeared himself to audiences spanning several generations, going all the way back to the early days of television.

When he was a youngster growing up in Dayton, Ohio, Winters dreamed of someday becoming a cartoonist. "Later in life I changed my mind," he said, "but I still feel that cartoons have a lot to say, both serious and funny. One of the biggest thrills in my life was selling a cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post."

Art is something that has been with Winters just about all his life, but it took him some time to find a medium and a style. When he was discharged from the Marines following World War II (after seeing action in the South Pacific), he enrolled at Kenyon College in Ohio, later transferring to the Dayton Art Institute.

"My biggest problem at that time was finding a style, something that would allow me to be different from my fellow painters," he said. "A number of years later, after graduating from school, I found it. It was a cross between surrealism and primitive."

Don Kingman, a friend of Winters, described his style this way: "It's abstract. His work reminds me of that of Wassily Kandinsky or Paul Klee at first sight. But his use of design, pattern and calligraphy to express his feelings goes much deeper beneath the surface."

Kingman added, "I enjoy seeing Jonathan as a performer and I laugh at his jokes, but I also respect him and his work as a painter. I have visited his home and gone down to his nine-feet-below-ground studio, in a 4' x 4' room, just big enough to hold a drawing table and a couple of chairs. We often sit there and talk about life, about art, and exchange ideas."

Kingman is a personal friend, but Winters said that art, too, "has and always will be one of my dearest 'friends.' It's like your eyes and your ears. It's a collection of pictures you take with you wherever you go. It's a collection of paintings that belongs to you for a lifetime.

Winters said one of the most important facets of painting -- especially if one is a rebel -- is that the artist is in charge. "You sink or swim with what you've painted," he pointed out. "I encourage everyone who wants to paint to just do it. Paint! Don't wait around for support, praise or rejection. Just get to it. Don't tell me, 'I can't draw a straight line.' I know better!"

He also counseled to ignore the conventional wisdom that a true artist paints a certain amount of time each and every day. "Unless you're a pro, don't feel you have to paint every day. Paint when you feel like it, but stay with it until you've finished what you started."

And, finally, this bit of advice: "There's a whole world of ideas out there. When, through your eyes and mind, your ideas are transferred to the canvas, they become that unusual painting or paintings that people are looking for."
Jonathan Winters was born Nov. 11, 1925. He attended public school in Springfield, Ohio, before joining the Marines at age 17. He met the woman he would later marry, Eileen, at the Dayton Art Institute, which he attended for two years.

It was Eileen who encouraged Jonathan to pursue a career in comedy and entertainment. She convinced him to enter a local talent contest in Dayton, which he did and won. First prize was a wristwatch, but he got something even nicer to go with it: a job as an early-morning disc jockey on radio station WING in Dayton. It was 1946 and Winters' career (and the television age) were about to take off.

From Dayton he jumped to Columbus, Ohio, where he got a job at WBNS-TV as an on-air personality. He spent three years there before deciding to head east and take on New York. He arrived in Manhattan "with $56.46 in my pocket" and quickly found work as a nightclub comic.

It was while performing at the Blue Angel club that his reputation as a rising comic began to grow. He was noticed by Gary Moore, who was substituting for Arthur Godfrey on the TV show "Talent Scouts." He brought Winters on the program, adding to his rising stardom.

This led to appearances on "The Jack Paar Show," "The Steve Allen Show" and "The Tonight Show," where Winters was able to demonstrate his comic genius and ultimately become a top name in American comedy. He has made numerous comedy records and has authored several books (an autobiography is in the works).

Winters is remembered by younger audiences as Robin Williams' son on the TV program "Mork and Mindy." When Williams once referred to him as his mentor, Winters replied, "Please, I prefer idol."

He's been in movies, too, including "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "The Loved One" and "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming." His writing efforts have yielded the books "Winters' Tales" and "Hang-Ups: Paintings by Jonathan Winters."

Jonathan and Eileen live in Santa Barbara, Calif., and have two children and five grandchildren. He paints and writes when he is not performing.

Information for this article was obtained from Actors as Artists, a book compiled by the actor and comedian Dick Gautier. To purchase a copy of Actors as Artists, signed by Mr. Gautier, you may visit his website at www.dickgautier.com.

Jonathan Winters studied at the Dayton Art Institute in Ohio after serving with the Marines during
World War II.

A New Member,
by Jonathan Winters.

Umbrella Dancers,
by Jonathan Winters.