Getty Images file
Jonathan Winters at the TV Land Awards in 2008.
By Anna Chan, TODAY
Jonathan Winters, the actor and comedian who gained fame with his roles in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "The Loved One" and "Mork and Mindy" has died. He was 87.
Winters' agent told NBC News that the actor died of natural causes Thursday night at his home in Montecito, Calif. He was surrounded by family and friends.
Winters was born in Dayton, Ohio, on Nov. 11, 1925. His career kicked off when his wife, Eileen, encouraged him to enter a talent contest, which he won. That performance led to a DJ job at WING in Dayton in 1946, and he eventually moved to New York and became a performer at Manhattan's Blue Angel nightclub.?
Winters became known for his numerous classic comedy characters and routines, including sharp-tongued Maude Frickert, whom Winters said he based on a large humorous but bedridden relative. ?I decided having seen a lot of older people that many of them even today are shelved,? Winters told the Archive of American Television. ?I decided to get a hip old lady.? Johnny Carson was inspired by Frickert to create his own version, Aunt Blabby.
His improvisational comedy inspired a generation. In a classic 1964 clip from "The Jack Paar Program," host Paar hands Winters a stick and the comic launches into four minutes of off-the-cuff prop humor, switching from an all-American fisherman to an Austrian violinist to a Spanish bullfighter.
Winters worked as an actor in more than 73 movies and television shows, according to IMDb.com, and currently has two projects in post-production: the voice of Papa Smurf in "The Smurfs 2," due to be released in July, and a character named Dayton in "Big Finish," which is scheduled for late next year.?
Everett Collection
From left, Robin Williams, Jonathan Winters and Pam Dawber on 1980s sitcom "Mork & Mindy."
One of his most popular roles was that of Mearth, Mork (Robin Williams) and Mindy's (Pam Dawber) child, who was hatched -- as a fully grown adult -- from an egg Mork laid. The character was introduced during the show's fourth and final season in the hopes of improving the sci-fi comedy's ratings. Winters had previously made a guest appearance on the show in season three as Mindy's uncle Dave.
Winters also voiced multiple commercials. Among his most popular ads were the ones he did for Hefty garbage bags, in which he played a garbageman dressed to the nines in a spiffy white suit.
Comedians took to Twitter Friday morning to remember the comic and his body of work.
The actor is survived by his two children and five grandchildren.
This breaking news story will be updated.
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