Actor and comedian Jonathan Winters dies in his home in Montecito, CA, at the age of 87.
Jonathan Winters died Sunday night in his home in Montecito, CA, according to a report by The New York Times. The actor and difficult-to-classify comedian appeared the big screen in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in 1963, before joining The Carol Burnett Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. From 1967-69, he headlined The Jonathan Winters Show.
Winters was a regular on such animated TV series as Ed Grimley and Fish Police, while taking on guest roles in Garfield & Friends, Animaniacs, Captain Planet & the Planeteers, and Johnny Bravo, among others. He also voiced the thief in the Miramax release of Richard Williams’ The Thief and the Cobbler, and can be heard every Christmas season as the narrator in Frosty Returns.
For many animation fans, Winters will be best remembered as the voices of Grandpa and Papa Smurf. He voiced Grandpa Smurf in the 1980s cartoon series and TV movie, ‘Tis the Season to Be Smurfy, before voicing Papa Smurf in the live-action/CGI The Smurfs and its sequel, to be released this summer.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
