An improvisational comedian who brought a new kind of comedy to American television and films, Jonathan Winters challenged his audiences by allowing humor to happen spontaneously. He created such characters as Maude Frickert, Chester Honeyhugger, and Elwood P. Suggins, placing them in hilarious situations suggested by impromptu cues. The unpredictable comic appeared often on NBC's Tonight Show, starring Jack Paar, who gave Winters free rein to extemporize and called him "pound for pound the funniest man on earth." His genius for mimicry allowed him to assume the character of anyone from a small lisping child to a large, wisecracking grandmother.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, to an affluent family, Jonathan demonstrated early his talent for imitating sounds as he played with his toy automobiles and stuffed animals. When he was seven, his parents divorced and his paternal grandfather—owner of the Winters National Bank—became...