Editing Jonathan Winters (section)

==Comedy style and legacy==
A pioneer of [[improvisation]]al [[stand-up comedy]] with a gift for [[Mimesis|mimicry]], [[Impersonator|impersonation]]s, various personalities, and a seemingly bottomless reservoir of creative energy, Winters was one of the first celebrities to go public with a personal [[Mental disorder|mental illness]] issue and felt stigmatized as a result.<ref name="Variety obit" /> According to [[Jack Paar]], "If you were to ask me the funniest 25 people I've ever known, I'd say, 'Here they are—Jonathan Winters.'{{Space double}} He also said of Winters, "Pound for pound, the funniest man alive."<ref name="Variety obit" />

With his round, rubber-faced mastery of [[Impressionist (entertainment)|impressions]] (including ones of [[John Wayne]], [[Cary Grant]], [[Groucho Marx]], [[James Cagney]], and others) and [[improvisation]]al comedy, Winters became a staple of [[Late night television in the United States|late-night television]] with a career spanning more than six decades. With notable honors, many television shows, films, and [[Stand-up comedy|comedy circuit]] appearances, Winters was known to start his stage shows by commanding an applauding audience that had risen to its feet to: "Please remain standing throughout the evening."<ref name="Post obit" />

Winters performed a wide range of characters: [[hillbilly|hillbillies]], arrogant city slickers, nerve-shattered airline pilots trying to hide their fear, disgruntled [[Western (genre)|westerners]], judgmental [[Martian]]s, little old ladies, nosy gas station attendants, a hungry cat eyeing a mouse, the oldest living airline stewardess, and more. "I was fighting for the fact that you could be funny without telling jokes," he told ''[[The New York Times]]'', adding that he thought of himself foremost as a writer and less as a stand-up comedian. He named [[James Thurber]]'s sophisticated absurdity as influential and said he idolized writers with a gift for humor.<ref name="Post obit" />

Two of his most memorable characters, cranky granny "Maude Frickert" and [[Yokel|bumpkin]] farmer "Elwood P. Suggins" ("I think eggs 24 hours a day"), were born from his early television routines. [[Robin Williams]] once told ''[[Playboy]]'' why Mr. Winters inspired him. "It was like seeing a guy behind a mask, and you could see that his characters were a great way for him to talk about painful stuff," he said. "I found out later that they are people he knows—his mother, his aunt. He's an artist who also paints with words. He paints these people that he sees."<ref name="Post obit" />
[[File:Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Trailer18.jpg|thumb|Jonathan Winters crashes through a wall in ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (1963)]]

Onstage and off, Winters was wildly unpredictable. He was often viewed by [[Film producer|producers]] as a liability, leading to a scattershot, though memorable, film career. On television, his two self-titled variety shows displayed him in dazzling form as a [[sketch comedy|sketch comic]] and [[impersonator]].<ref name="Post obit" />

Winters was an [[Artistic inspiration|inspiration]] for performers such as [[Johnny Carson]], [[Billy Crystal]], [[Tracey Ullman]], [[Lily Tomlin]], [[Steve Martin]], [[Jim Carrey]], and [[Jimmy Kimmel]]. Robin Williams credited Winters as his comedy mentor, and the two co-starred on ''[[Mork & Mindy]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/robin-williams-remembers-comic-legend-jonathan-winters-18947090|title=Robin Williams Remembers Comic Legend Jonathan Winters|format = Video| work= ABC News}}</ref>

In a 1991 interview with the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', Winters likened the [[Show business|entertainment industry]] to the [[Olympic Games|Olympics]], with actors standing on boxes to receive [[gold medal|gold]], [[silver medal|silver]], and [[bronze medals]]. Winters claimed, "I think my place is inside the box, underneath the guy receiving the gold medal. They're playing the national anthem and I'm fondling a platinum medallion."<ref name="Post obit" />