Jonathon Winters is truly one of the funniest men to ever walk this Earth….as he could make comedy out of anything…..and all someone ever had to do to generate a good ole belly laugh is to hand Winters some innate object….as a spontaneous as the moment he receives the object….he can provide a “one liner” that literally makes you roll with laughter. In this Jonathan Winters Special Salute to Baseball….he plays Rick Randel, the play by play broadcaster for the Murleyville Macs….along with just about every major role in the program…..with some absolutely hilarious moments and characterizations…..as he salutes the game of baseball.
Jonathan Winters was an American comedian, actor, author, and artist….who beginning in 1960, recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label….as he also had records released every decade for over 50 years….while receiving 11 Grammy nominations….including eight for Best Comedy Album during his career. From these nominations, he won the Grammy Award for Best Album for Children for his contribution to an adaptation of The Little Prince in 1975….and the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album for Crank(y) Calls in 1996. With a career spanning more than six decades…. Winters also appeared in hundreds of television shows and films….including eccentric characters on The Steve Allen Show, The Garry Moore Show, The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters (1972–74), Mork & Mindy, Hee Haw, and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. He also voiced Grandpa Smurf on The Smurfs TV series from 1986 to the show’s conclusion in 1989. Over twenty years later, Winters was introduced to a new generation through voicing Papa Smurf in The Smurfs (2011) and The Smurfs 2 (2013). Winters died nine days after recording his dialogue for The Smurfs 2….and the film was dedicated in his memory. In 1991, Winters won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Gunny Davis in the short-lived sitcom Davis Rules…..and 1999 saw Winters become the 2nd recipient of the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor….plus, in 2002, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance as Q.T. Marlens on Life with Bonnie….then Winters was presented with a Pioneer TV Land Award by Robin Williams in 2008….who patterned so much of his brilliant comedy after Jonathan Winters.
Simply put, Jonathan Winters is an all-time comedic genius…..who made folks laugh for the better part of 70 years….as his incredible talent to make us laugh never drifted very far away….and ImaSportsphile is absolutely honored to have this Salute to Baseball special….for it is “pure gold” in our treasure chest of memories.
