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65-449: The station took the air on November 1, 1940, and was very active in the community. Its founder and first owner was The Radio Voice of Springfield Inc. In the station's early days, nationally known comedian Jonathan Winters had a program on WIZE. However, in the mid-1960s, WIZE adopted a Top 40 format, increasing its popularity and revenue. Under the leadership of Station Manager Steve Joos, listenership (and advertising revenues) grew to

130-614: A local marketing agreement with owner RAY (Ronald A. Yontz) Broadcasting. By this time, both stations operated in the same building. Staggs sold the station in the 1990s to WONE's then-owner, JACOR Broadcasting using the name Citicasters, which dropped all local programming for a simulcast of WONE, effectively ending any and all relationship with Springfield. After a stint as a country music station, WONE/WIZE changed to Adult Standards on November 29, 1994. It adopted its present sports talk format (as "Sports ONE") on December 8, 2003, competing with Radio One -owned WING. This eventually became

195-617: A TV weatherman in Cincinnati). WIZE was also the home to news and sports director Gerry Allen (Gerry Pavelka) and notable news reporters Karen Anderson and Darryl Bauer (now of WHIO-AM). Will Harris also worked with Gerry Allen on high school and Wittenberg sports broadcasts in the 70's. He went on to work in Dayton at WHIO, WONE, WCLR (in Piqua) and WPFB FM (then known as the Rebel). He is now on

260-613: A ball, and as I get older I just become an older kid." Winters lived near Santa Barbara, California , and was often seen browsing or "hamming" for the crowd at the antique and gun shows on the Ventura County fairgrounds . He often entertained the tellers and other employees whenever he visited his local bank to make a deposit or withdrawal. Additionally, he spent his time painting and attended many gallery showings , even presenting his art in one-man shows. On January 11, 2009, Winters's wife of more than 60 years, Eileen, died at

325-547: A career spanning more than six decades, Winters also appeared in hundreds of television shows and films, including eccentric characters on The Steve Allen Show , The Garry Moore Show , The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters (1972–74), Mork & Mindy , and Hee Haw . For his role in the 1963 comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World , he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy . In 1991, Winters won

390-623: A children's TV series on PBS designed to teach children about health and nutrition and to encourage them to exercise. In 1999, he was awarded the Kennedy Center 's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor , becoming the second recipient. Winters had various roles and appeared in numerous television features throughout the early to mid-2000s. In 2000, Winters appeared in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle . In 2003, he appeared in

455-462: A dapper garbageman known for collecting "gahr-bahj," as well as "Maude Frickert" and other characters. Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label, starting in 1960. Probably the best known of his characters from this period is "Maude Frickert", the seemingly sweet old lady with the barbed tongue (reportedly named for comedic actress Maudie Prickett ). He was

520-502: 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." Onstage and off, Winters

585-407: A father in his life. When the tormentors were not around, he would go to a building or tree and weep in despair. Winters said that he learned to laugh at his situation but admitted that his adult life had been a response to sorrow. During his senior year at Springfield High School , Winters quit school , joined the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of seventeen and served 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years in

650-481: A favorite of Jack Paar , who hosted The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962, and appeared frequently on his television programs, even going so far as to impersonate then U.S. president John F. Kennedy over the telephone as a prank on Paar. Winters had a dramatic role in The Twilight Zone episode " A Game of Pool " (episode 3.5 aired on October 13, 1961). He also recorded Ogden Nash 's The Carnival of

715-416: A few years as General Manager, and was replaced by George Wymer (son of WING, Dayton, radio legend Jack Wymer) with the intention of purchasing the station from Great Trails. He was unable to make the purchase and left the station. The next General Manager was Jerry Staggs, who eventually did purchase the station. Under Staggs' watch, WIZE associated with the former WBLY, the predecessor of WULM as part of

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780-528: 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. Two of his most memorable characters, cranky granny "Maude Frickert" and bumpkin farmer "Elwood P. Suggins" ("I think eggs 24 hours

845-644: A near-total simulcast of then "1360 Homer" in Cincinnati, even though the programming was originated from the Dayton Ohio studios and was in no way connected to the Cincinnati market, even as the "Homer" format itself moved from WSAI to WCKY 1530-AM in July 2006. This "simulcast" of nationally syndicated programming or at least the appearance of a simulcast with WCKY would eventually be further diluted in 2007, when WONE/WIZE would start to air local sports talk in

910-512: A regular (along with Woody Allen and Jo Anne Worley ) on a Saturday morning children's television program Hot Dog in the early 1970s. He also had his own syndicated show called The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters from 1972 to 1974, the music director of which, Van Alexander , was nominated for a 1973 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction of a Variety, Musical or Dramatic Program . Jonathan Winters

975-472: A regular on The Andy Williams Show . He also performed regularly as a panelist on The Hollywood Squares . In the mid-1970s, he appeared on ABC's Good Morning America doing humorous reviews of films. During the late 1960s, Winters acted in several film comedies, most prominently The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), and Viva Max! (1969). Additionally, he was

1040-544: A residence. As a result, WIZE's studios had a country setting while remaining in the city. Among the list of past employees include Jim Baldridge (later of WHIO-TV ), Duke Rollins, Sonny Palmer, Paul Carman, Ron Allen (now with ESPN International), the late John Hall (John Stalder), Johnny Walker (DJ born 1942) (later of WKEF -TV), Lee Brenner (Lee Aufdenkampe), Ric Jonns (formerly of Radio Caroline North), Fred "Buddy" King, John King (F. John Damewood), Geoff Davis, Jerry "T" Tritle, and Pat Barry (who achieved more recognition as

1105-591: A result, the WIZE studio building now only houses transmitting and remote broadcasting equipment as WIZE programming is fed from Dayton. Where Local Wittenberg college and high school sports and coaches show programming is fed from Springfield back to Dayton and then fed back to Springfield for air. WIZE dropped the classic country format to carry iHeart's Black Information Network —branded as Dayton's BIN 1340 —on July 27, 2020. Jonathan Winters Jonathan Harshman Winters (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013)

1170-576: A seemingly bottomless reservoir of creative energy, Winters was one of the first celebrities to go public with a personal mental illness issue and felt stigmatized as a result. 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.' " He also said of Winters, "Pound for pound, the funniest man alive." With his round, rubber-faced mastery of impressions (including ones of John Wayne , Cary Grant , Groucho Marx , James Cagney , and others) and improvisational comedy, Winters became

1235-569: A staple of late-night television with a career spanning more than six decades. With notable honors, many television shows, films, and 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." Winters performed a wide range of characters: hillbillies , arrogant city slickers, nerve-shattered airline pilots trying to hide their fear, disgruntled westerners , judgmental Martians , little old ladies, nosy gas station attendants,

1300-551: A strange kind of arrangement." Alone in his room, he created characters and interviewed himself. A poor student, Winters continued talking to himself and developed a repertoire of strange sound effects. He often entertained his high school friends by imitating a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . In another television interview, Winters described how deeply he was hurt by his parents' divorce. He fought youthful tormentors who ridiculed him for not having

1365-493: A talent contest in which the first prize was a wristwatch and encouraged Jonathan to "go down and win it." She was certain he could, and he did. His performance led to a disc jockey job, where he was supposed to introduce songs and announce the temperature. Gradually his ad libs , personae, and antics took over the show. He began acting along with developing comedy routines while studying at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio . He

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1430-732: A tool for evangelization , implementing and adhering to the teachings of the Catholic Church . Initially it was inspired by the appeals made by the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal , and in more recent years based on the Marian messages from Medjugorje , Bosnia and Herzegovina , pleading for worldwide conversion. As such, Radio Maria is not subsidized or funded by the Roman Catholic Church; instead it

1495-674: A year, and with $ 56.46 in his pocket, he moved to New York City, staying with friends in Greenwich Village. After obtaining Martin Goodman as his agent, he began stand-up routines in various New York nightclubs. His earliest network television appearance was in 1954 on Chance of a Lifetime , hosted by Dennis James on the DuMont Television Network , where Winters again appeared as "Johnny Winters". Winters made television history in 1956 when RCA broadcast

1560-622: Is an international Catholic radio broadcasting service founded in Erba , province of Como , in the diocese of Milan , Italy , in 1987. The World Family of Radio Maria was formed in 1998, mainly based on the Our Lady of Medjugorje apparitions and messages, and today has branches in 86 countries around the world. Its mission includes liturgy , catechesis , spirituality , devotions , prayer , spiritual assistance with everyday issues, information, music, and culture. Its first broadcast facility

1625-599: Is available from most of these stations. http://www.radiomaria-sr.ch/ (in French) Lingala Swahili Luba-Lulua Chiyao Chitumbuka English French English Swahili Luganda Spanish Programming mostly consists of traditional Catholic worship music, but some stations also air a mix of traditional and contemporary Catholic music , along with various talk and teaching programs discussing

1690-829: Is underwritten by listener contributions. In 1994, the principal founder don M. Galbiati left Radio Maria and founded Radio Mater, also in Arcellasco d'Erba, as a totally separate entity. Since 5 September 1994 transmissions started in Albavilla in the province of Como. The Liturgy of the Hours is diffused in the Roman Rite . Radio Mater is broadcast via radio in Italy, in Europe via satellite ( DVB-S Hot Bird ), and worldwide via Internet ( WMP ). The World Family of Radio Maria

1755-569: The Archive of American Television , Winters reported that he spent eight months in a private psychiatric hospital in 1959 and again in 1961. The comic suffered from nervous breakdowns and bipolar disorder . With unprecedented frenetic energy, Winters made obscure references to his illness and hospitalization during his stand-up routines , most famously on his 1960 comedy album, The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters . During his classic "flying saucer" routine, Winters casually mentions that if he

1820-499: The CBS Television Sunday morning show Omnibus . In 1957 he performed in the first color television show, a 15-minute routine sponsored by Tums. From 1959 to 1964, his voice was heard in a series of popular television commercials for Utica Club beer. In the ads, he provided the voices of talking beer steins named Shultz and Dooley. Later, he became a spokesman for Hefty brand trash bags, for whom he appeared as

1885-616: The Pacific Theater during World War II . Upon his return, he attended Kenyon College . He later studied cartooning at Dayton Art Institute , where he met Eileen Schauder, whom he married on September 11, 1948. He was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Lambda chapter). Winters's career started from a lost wristwatch about six or seven months after his marriage to Eileen in 1948. The newlyweds couldn't afford to buy another one; then Eileen read about

1950-538: The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Gunny Davis in the short-lived sitcom Davis Rules . In 2002, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance as Q.T. Marlens on Life with Bonnie . Winters was presented with a Pioneer TV Land Award by Robin Williams in 2008. He also voiced Grandpa Smurf on The Smurfs TV series from 1986 to

2015-543: The Verve Records label including The Wonderful World of Jonathan Winters (1960). He also had records released every decade for over 50 years, receiving 11 Grammy nominations, including eight for Best Comedy Album , during his career. From these nominations, he won the Grammy Award for Best Album for Children for his contribution to an adaptation of The Little Prince in 1975 and the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album for Crank(y) Calls in 1996. With

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2080-649: The 1980s and 1990s. In 1987, Winters was featured in NFL Films ' The NFL TV Follies . That same year he published Winters' Tales: Stories and Observations for the Unusual . In 1991 and 1992, he had a supporting role on Davis Rules , a sitcom that lasted two seasons (25 episodes), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series . He played Gunny Davis, an eccentric grandfather helping raise his grandchildren after his son lost his wife. In addition to his live-action roles, he

2145-593: The Animals poems to Camille Saint-Saëns 's classical opus. On The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–92), Winters usually performed in the guise of some character. Carson often did not know what Winters had planned and usually had to tease out the character's backstory during a comedic interview. Carson invented a character called "Aunt Blabby", who was similar to and possibly inspired by "Maude Frickert". Winters appeared in more than 50 movies and many television shows, including particularly notable roles in

2210-605: The Catholic faith, frequent recitals of the Holy Rosary, novenas, and Masses. Radio Maria's programming mostly emanates from one centrally located studio or station in a given region or country, and is then re-broadcast (or "simulcast") on a network of repeater transmitters on the AM and FM bands. Some employ the use of a subcarrier , also known as SCA (for " Subsidiary Communications Authority ") facilities of FM stations, requiring

2275-1248: The Middle East, and the Americas. Overall, Radio Maria operates approximately 1,500 radio transmitters worldwide. Its United States of America operation is one of the newest to join the World Family, in May 2000, with KJMJ (AM) in Alexandria, Louisiana , being the originating English-language station, together with a network of several FM and AM repeaters in Louisiana, an AM station in Port Arthur, Texas, on 1250 AM ( KDEI ), and an FM repeater in Anna, Ohio. An AM repeater in Springfield, Ohio, east of Dayton, commenced broadcasting in June 2008 with new FM repeaters in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, coming on

2340-639: The Moon. Choice bits from the latter were collected and released on a 1969 Columbia LP, "Stuff 'n' Nonsense". He later participated in ABC 's The American Sportsman , hosted by Grits Gresham , who took celebrities on hunting, fishing, and shooting trips to exotic places around the world. Winters made memorable appearances on both The Dean Martin Show and The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast , as well as being

2405-541: The Winters National Bank, which failed as the family's fortunes collapsed during the Great Depression . When he was seven, his parents separated. Winters' mother took him to Springfield , Ohio, to live with his maternal grandmother. "Mother and dad didn't understand me; I didn't understand them," Winters told Jim Lehrer on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer in 1999. "So consequently it was

2470-470: The afternoon, as well as clearing Fox Sports Radio in the morning hours (which eventually led to a clearance of Dayton native Dan Patrick 's late morning show.) WIZE continued to relay WONE until April 22, 2011, when it broke away to carry a country oldies music format when a need was created by the former 101.7 FM, now 101.5 licensed to Urbana and now ENON, Ohio left the Springfield Market for

2535-610: The age of 84 after a 20-year battle with breast cancer . Winters died of natural causes on the evening of April 11, 2013, in Montecito, California , at the age of 87. He was survived by his two children and five grandchildren. He was cremated, and his ashes were given to his family. Fans of Winters placed flowers on his Hollywood Walk of Fame star on April 12, 2013, at 1:30 p.m. Many comedians, actors, and friends gave personal tributes to Winters on social media shortly after his death. Robin Williams posted, "First he

2600-466: The air and is one of the owners of Downtown Dayton Radio (DDR) which is an online radio station (www.downtowndaytonradio.com) dedicated to promoting events in Dayton. In 1982, Joos left WIZE to accept a position in Columbus. He was replaced as General Manager by Joe Taylor who instituted numerous changes in the station. He brought in two new staff members (Sandy Alexander and Dennis Carter) and changed

2665-617: The air in June 2009, D'Iberville, Mississippi, and Peshtigo, Wisconsin, both in May 2010. Spanish-language and Italian-language programming is heard on FM subcarrier frequencies in Boston , Chicago, Houston , New York City and Washington, D.C.. Italian-language programming can also be heard on the New York City FM subcarrier as well as French Canadian and English speaking services on FM subcarriers in Toronto , Ontario. Audiostreaming

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2730-738: The different Orkan physiology, Mork laid an egg, which grew and hatched into the much older Winters. It had been previously explained that Orkans aged "backwards," thus explaining Mearth's appearance and that of his teacher, Miss Geezba (portrayed by a then-11-year-old actress Louanne Sirota ). Mork's infant son Mearth in Mork & Mindy was created in hopes of improving ratings and as an attempt to capitalize on Williams's comedic talents. Winters had previously guest-starred in Season 3, Episode 18, as Dave McConnell, Mindy's uncle. However, after multiple scheduling and cast changes, Mork & Mindy' s fourth season

2795-680: The film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and in the dual roles of Henry Glenworthy and his dark, scheming brother, the Rev. Wilbur Glenworthy, in the film adaptation of Evelyn Waugh 's novel The Loved One . Fellow comedians who starred with him in Mad World, such as Arnold Stang , said that in the long periods while they waited between scenes, Winters entertained them for hours in their trailer by becoming any character that they suggested to him. From December 1967 to June 1969, Winters helmed his own hour-long weekly variety program on CBS (similar to

2860-500: The film Swing . In 2004, Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time ranked Winters as the No. 18 greatest stand-up comedian. In 2005 and 2006, Winters appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! . In 2008, Winters was presented with a Pioneer TV Land Award by Robin Williams . That same year, PBS aired Pioneers of Television , and Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America in 2009, both featuring Winters. Winters

2925-486: The first public demonstration of color videotape on The Jonathan Winters Show . Author David Hajdu wrote in The New York Times (2006), "He soon used video technology 'to appear as two characters,' bantering back and forth, seemingly in the studio at the same time. You could say he invented the video stunt." His big break occurred (with the revised name of Jonathan) when he worked for Alistair Cooke on

2990-422: The format to a unique middle-of-the-road type format. This was at a time when FM radio was becoming more popular and AM stations were having problems attracting listeners and advertising revenues. Taylor thus instituted an all-out sales push, selling commercials for as little as a dollar. As a result, the station was oversold, often running as much as 40 minutes of commercial material each hour. Taylor only lasted

3055-567: The greener pastures of the larger Dayton Market. WULM's usage of the former WIZE studios at the WIZE transmitter site ended in June 2010 (when after being sold to Radio Maria Inc. as a repeater of originating station KJMJ in the spring of 2008), the WULM studio equipment was moved to the Father Boyle Center near St. Bernard Parish at 920 Lagonda Avenue which will feed local live programs to originator KJMJ and its repeater network...as

3120-488: The point that WIZE was the most profitable station in the Great Trails Broadcasting chain. WING in Dayton, WCOL in Columbus and WGTZ , Eaton (formerly WJAI) were also owned by Great Trails. The station was moved from its downtown location on West High Street to a location on Miracle Mile. In order to comply with zoning regulations, the building had to be set back from the road and had to look like

3185-584: The show's conclusion in 1989. Over twenty years later, Winters was introduced to a new generation through voicing Papa Smurf in The Smurfs (2011) and The Smurfs 2 (2013). Winters died nine days after recording his dialogue for The Smurfs 2 ; the film was dedicated to his memory. Winters also spent time painting and presenting his artwork, including silkscreens and sketches, in many gallery shows . He authored several books including his book of short stories entitled Winters' Tales (1988). Winters

3250-454: The then-popular Red Skelton and Carol Burnett shows on the same network). The Jonathan Winters Show featured guest stars of comedy and music (e.g. The Doors ), recurring sketches (often featuring Winters characters such as Maude Frickert, rural Elwood P. Suggins, drunk Harold Nermlinger, Norwegian Yorny Bjorny); and an audience-request section where Winters did impressions of persons, animals, etc. in various situations, e.g. , John Wayne on

3315-492: The two co-starred on Mork & Mindy . Radio Maria Radio Maria ( Spanish : Radio María ; Portuguese : Rádio Maria ; Croatian : Radio Marija ; Maltese : Radju Marija ; Lithuanian : Marijos Radijas ; Hungarian : Mária Rádió ; Russian : Радио Мария ; Ukrainian : Радіо Марія ; Dutch : Radio Maria ; known in Germany as Radio Horeb ), formally known as The World Family of Radio Maria ,

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3380-452: The use of a receiver designed to receive SCA signals. Since the emergence of the internet, audio-streaming has been used extensively as a means to help fill in gaps left by the unavailability of AM or FM frequencies in metropolitan areas already taken up by commercial, public, or other religious broadcasters. Starting in June 2008, there have been shortwave transmissions originating from Italy at 26 MHz and at 26.01 MHz DRM making it

3445-399: Was a guest star on The Muppet Show in 1980. That same year, he also appeared in I Go Pogo (a.k.a. Pogo for President ). In 1981, he was a guest on the short-lived comedy series Aloha Paradise . In the fourth and final season of the sci-fi -styled TV comedy Mork & Mindy , Winters (one of Robin Williams 's idols) was brought in as Mork & Mindy's child, Mearth. Due to

3510-755: Was a guest star on The New Scooby-Doo Movies (in an episode where he also voiced an animated version of his "Maude Frickert" character) and as the narrator in Frosty Returns which airs annually aired during the Christmas season . Winters also provided the voice for the thief in The Thief and the Cobbler . In 1994, Winters appeared as a fired factory worker (credited as "Grizzled Man") in The Flintstones . In an interesting role reversal, he

3575-421: Was already quite low in the ratings and ended up being the show's last season. Winters became a regular on Hee Haw during the 1983–1984 season. He was later the voice of Grandpa Smurf from 1986 to 1990 on the television series The Smurfs . Additionally, he did the voice of Bigelow in the 1985 TV film Pound Puppies and voice-acted on Yogi's Treasure Hunt in 1985, among other voice roles throughout

3640-593: Was also a local radio personality on WING (mornings, 6 to 8) in Dayton, Ohio , and at WIZE in Springfield, Ohio. He performed as "Johnny Winters" on WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio , for 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years. Jerome R. "Ted" Reeves, then program director for WBNS-TV, arranged for his first audition with CBS in New York City . After promising his wife that he would return to Dayton if he did not make it in

3705-702: Was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. He started performing as a stand up comedian before transitioning his career to acting in film and television. Winters received numerous accolades including two Grammy Awards , a Primetime Emmy Award , as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, the American Academy of Achievement in 1973, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 1999. Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for

3770-418: Was born in Dayton, Ohio , to Alice Kilgore Rodgers and Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an insurance agent who later became an investment broker. He was a descendant of Valentine Winters, founder of the Winters National Bank in Dayton, Ohio . Of English and Scottish-Irish ancestry, Winters had described his father as an alcoholic who had trouble holding a job. His grandfather, a frustrated comedian , owned

3835-583: Was coaxed out of retirement to voice Papa Smurf in The Smurfs (2011), the first-ever animated/live-action Smurfs film, and later in The Smurfs 2 (2013), his final film project. He died only nine days after he finished recording Papa's voice. Winters was originally cast in Big Finish (2014), during pre-production . It is a comedy set in a retirement home . His scheduled role was to appear alongside Jerry Lewis and Bob Newhart . Jonathan and Eileen Winters had two children. In his interview with

3900-601: Was formed in 1998 out of its subsequent international growth in the 1990s, and pursuant to the 1987 speech by Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square addressing the need for a new evangelization. Emanuele Ferrario (inspired by the Pope's words to form a new evangelization) is the founder and president of Radio Maria, Inc., which has since grown into an association of 40 multilingual broadcast operations in Africa, Asia, Europe,

3965-583: Was from a parish in Arcellasco d'Erba ( province of Como , Italy), but in 1987 it became a separate entity outside its home parish as an association of lay people and priests as Radio Maria Italia. In less than five years, it grew into a national Catholic radio network throughout Italy. Though not directly connected with the Roman Catholic hierarchy, it was founded as an instrument of the Church and as

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4030-414: Was my idol, then he was my mentor and amazing friend. I'll miss him huge. He was my Comedy Buddha. Long live the Buddha." In September 2013, at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards , Williams again honored the career and life of Winters. The 2013 movie The Smurfs 2 was dedicated to him. A pioneer of improvisational stand-up comedy with a gift for mimicry , impersonations , various personalities, and

4095-517: Was not careful, the authorities might put him back in the "zoo", referring to the institution. "These voices are always screaming to get out," Winters told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram . "They follow me around pretty much all day and night." Winters could use his talents in voice-over roles. A devotee of Groucho Marx and Laurel and Hardy , Winters once claimed, "I've done for the most part pretty much what I intended." He told U.S. News , "I ended up doing comedy, writing, and painting.... I've had

4160-497: Was the serious-minded secular police chief and uncle of the character Lamont Cranston (played by Alec Baldwin ) in The Shadow . That same year he voiced Stinkbomb D. Basset in the episode "Smell Ya Later" on Animaniacs . Winters received eleven Grammy nominations during his career, including eight for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album ; he won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album for Crank(y) Calls in 1996. In 1996, Winters played himself in Bloopy's Buddies ,

4225-482: Was wildly unpredictable. He was often viewed by 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 comic and impersonator . Winters was an 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

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