Comedian and actor Jonathan Winters died 11 April 2013 of natural causes. Born 11 November 1925 in Dayton, Ohio, he received the Kennedy Center’s second Mark Twain Prize for Humor in 1999 and won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor (1991, for Davis Rules). He also won two Grammys, for The Little Prince (1975) and Crank Calls (1996), and was nominated for another Emmy (for Life with Bonnie, 2003) and for a Golden Globe (for It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, 1964).

Winters credited his mother for his sense of humor (his parents divorced when he was 7). At the age of 17, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and served two years in the South Pacific. After returning home, he attended the Dayton Art Institute, and then worked as a radio disc jockey and television host in his hometown. In the mid-1950s, he moved to New York, and eventually broke into a career in comedy on television, guesting on talk shows of the day, and developing his characterizations and impersonations.

Perhaps best remembered in sf circles as Robin Williams’ son Mearth in the final season of Mork & Mindy, he also voiced Papa Smurf in the original television series, as well as 2011’s feature film and the forthcoming sequel. His other genre appearances include: The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000), The Shadow (1994), The Flintstones (1994), Frosty Returns (1992), several episodes of Gravedale High (1990), The Little Troll Prince (1987), Alice in Wonderland (1985), The Twilight Zone (1961), and The Magic Land of Alakazam (1960).

He was also a painter and an author.

His wife, Eileen, died in 2009, after 60 years of marriage. He is survived by two children.