One of the greatest ad lib comedians of all time is, without a doubt, Jonathan Winters. He paved the way for many of the greats that would follow including Robing Williams and Jim Carey amongst others. His comedy knows no bounds. He is just as funny off stage as well as he is on and there are those they say that Winters is always "on". What a lot of people don't know is that Jonathan Winters owes his entire career to a lost wristwatch. About six or seven months after getting married to his lovely wife, Eileen, the watch (which was a gift from him to her) was nowhere to be found. The newlyweds were pretty down on their luck at the time and couldn’t afford to buy another one. Then Eileen read about a talent contest in which the first prize was a wristwatch, and encouraged Jonathan to “go down and win it.” She was certain he could… and he did. Because of his performance he was given a job as a local DJ where he was supposed to introduce songs and announce the weather. Gradually his ad libs, personas and antics took over the show. To think that if he had never lost that watch, the world might never have known who Jonathan Winters was is down right unbelievable. Thankfully that wasn't the case and we get to enjoy Jonathan's comedy record, "The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters" here at the World of Wonder. Enjoy!
The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters
One last note: It was announced not that long ago that JW will be providing the voice for Papa Smurf for the new Smurfs film!
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