While he went Hollywood, Winters never forgot where he came from and often returned to the Champion City to Springfield High reunions and to meet with friends. One of those occasions was to promote the opening of the Heritage Center of Clark County in the late 1990s, for which Winters did a series of interviews.
Those interviews, recently rediscovered in the Heritage Center archives, will be part of the virtual event “Remembering the Laughs: Springfield’s Own Jonathan Winters,” 7 p.m. Wednesday. The free Zoom event is presented by the Clark County Historical Society at the Heritage Center and moderated by Natalie Fritz, curator of library and archives.
The presentation will be available at https://cutt.ly/W4VbGij or through the Heritage Center’s Facebook page. The event is a tribute for the 10th anniversary of Winters’ passing on April 11.
“He was a great, talented comedian and actor, World War II veteran and Springfield High graduate, and he talks a lot about his life here in the videos,” said Fritz.
The breadth of the interviews wasn’t known, only what was used for the promos, and when the staff rediscovered them, it was a chance to celebrate his legacy and share it with the public. They were conducted by Paul Cronley of Merlin Productions.
Credit: File
Credit: File
Born in Dayton on Nov. 11, 1925, Winters moved to Springfield at age 7 with his mom after his parents separated. He lived with his grandmother in what is now the Littleton & Rue Funeral Home and Crematory.
In the videos, Winters talks about going with his mom to radio appearances on WIZE. He’d later become a disc jockey locally, but only after he left Springfield High before graduating to join the Marines to fight in World War II.
Winters returned to the states and was married in the late 1940s, went on to various radio and television jobs and took his chances on the nightclub comedy circuit in New York in the mid 1950s. His career took off with television jobs, comedy albums and eventually movies. His career gained legendary status, idolized by later comedians like Robin Williams, and he worked right up until his passing.
Fritz hopes other participants will share their memories of Winters during the presentation. She said Winters’ children, Jonathan Winters IV and Lucinda, have supported this program and are invited to participate, although she doesn’t know if they will.
Those who can’t make the live presentation on Wednesday can view them on the Heritage Center’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
“We hope people will enjoy the presentation and the videos of this Springfield legend,” said Fritz.
About the Author