Legendary Winters uses broad canvas for art, life

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 | 9:30 a.m.

Jonathan Winters entered the Art de Vignette's Fine Arts Gallery at Fashion Show mall last week, his pace slowed by age and a battle with bladder cancer that he seems to be winning.

The 78-year-old legend of improvisational comedy sported a Marine Corps cap, held a cane used occasionally to support his weight and entertained more than a dozen fans who followed him and laughed at his non-stop, stream-of-consciousness observations.

"She needs a bra," Winters commented when he stopped by a bronze sculpture of a nude woman.

Then he turned and said hello to an elderly, retired Marine colonel who came to see the comic genius. The colonel remembered meeting Winters in Vietnam. A party was thrown for Winters, but he got sick and couldn't attend.

"I'm still sick," said Winters, whose dialogues quickly turn into monologues punctuated by his arsenal of facial expressions. "It's pretty much mental, not just a cold. It's pretty much Toys R' Us up here (points to his head)."

Winters was in town last week to attend the opening of an exhibition of his artwork more than 30 pieces of mostly drawings and acrylic paintings.

Gallery owner Barbara Lee Woollen is one of Winters' many fans, not just of his comedy but of his art as well.

"I love the humor in his art," she said. "There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor. The paintings are tightly woven, a matrix of patterns and colors."

Celebrities are beginning to find Art de Vignettes. Actor Paul Sorvino has several bronze sculptures on display. Woollen is talking to Sylvester Stallone about his paintings.

"It isn't just their celebrity status," Woollen said. "I have to like their work."

Winters' collection will be on display for three more weeks, after which the gallery will have a limited number on hand for sale.

The comic's mind is still sharp.

"A woman called me crazy the other day," Winters, with his droopy eyes, cherubic face and sly grin, said to the colonel and to the growing number of fans entering the gallery. "I said, 'Are you a doctor? How do you know I'm crazy?' and she said (Winters imitated her voice), 'My husband and I have seen you on television and we really don't care for your comedy.'

"I said, 'Do you speak for both of you? Where's your husband? Is he hiding in the trunk of your car? What's the story?' And she said, 'No he's not hiding in the trunk,' and I said, 'Then he's probably hiding from you.' She said, 'That's it. You think you're a smart ass.' And I said, 'No, just very wealthy. When I was poor I had nothing to say, other than, 'Is there any work?'

"The woman said, 'Say something funny,' and I said, 'I would, if I thought you would get it.' "

Winters has been a comedian almost his entire life, even when he wasn't getting paid for it.

The native of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 1925. He quit high school his junior year to join the Marines, and served in the Pacific during World War II.

"I didn't join to fight the Japanese," he said. "I joined to get away from home."

When he was discharged he returned to Ohio, attended art school and became a radio disc jockey, stand-up comic, actor and a favorite on talk shows hosted by such entertainers as Johnny Carson and Steve Allen.

Winters became noted for such characterizations as Maude Frickert, Chester Honeyhugger and Elwood P. Suggins.

Early in his career he suffered two nervous breakdowns in 1959 and 1961. He has always discussed the problem openly.

"I was asked to go on the Larry King show one time and talk about being bipolar," Winters said. "I said, 'No, I'm just polar.' He said, 'But I understand you're manic depressive.' I said, 'You've got to make up your mind, if you're going to interview me, what label I'm under.' He said, 'What do you mean, you're just polar?' I said, 'I've been to the Antarctic, I've been around the cape of South America. But I haven't been to the Arctic, so I'm just polar.' "

In 1981 Winters joined the cast of "Mork and Mindy," which starred Robin Williams and Pam Dawber.

Winters still does the occasional acting gig. Last year he appeared in the yet-to-be-released, low-budget film "Swing," a story that takes place in a retirement home for old musicians. It also features Jacqueline Bisset.

Winters spends a lot of time on the lecture circuit.

"I kind of talk about myself in theaters around the country," he said. "I spend an hour to 90 minutes with people asking me questions about my life. I throw in a lot of fun things that happened to me. People want to know about my life."

Author of the best-selling "Winters' Tales" (Random House; 1987), Winters still writes and makes the occasional television appearance.

But his greatest interest is in his art.

"Maybe it's biting the hand that feeds me," he said. "Television has been good to me, and I've not had many chances to do film.

"My art has given me more satisfaction than anything. You write something and you've got an editor to answer to. But when I paint, I'm in charge. I paint what I want to paint. I'm not being graded. I'm upstairs in this Mickey Mouse studio doing what I want."

Winters describes his art as surrealistic and primitive. He says he spends a lot of time getting an idea.

"I've always fought to do something really different every time I paint," Winters said.

After noting that he is strongly influenced by the art of American Indians, and observing there are many artistic Indians in Oklahoma, his mind took off like a pinball and he launched into a spontaneous, five-minute routine about a rural American.

Winters painted a verbal picture of the character.

"He's a wonderful man," he said, using a heavy accent that could have been from Oklahoma, Arkansas or Texas. "He's not a second-degree Mason, but he did take a Masonic ring off a dead man from Muskogee once."

Winters says he works so hard because he knows his time is running out.

"I'm not running scared," he said. "But I've had a few things happen to me. It's not a question of my being a crybaby -- but I had a problem with cancer of the bladder, and some other things that have happened that I won't get into.

"I can only say this was a wake-up call. Any problems I had in the past, this was a big one. It's not a question of being scared out of my pants, but it was time to take notice of what's going on. I decided I'd better sit down and look at what I'm doing. I'm in overtime right now. I need to get some things done."

One of the things he does is speak out against the vulgarity that seems to be running rampant these days.

"If the only way you can express yourself is with four-letter words, forget it," he said. "You're not shocking me. I'm just bored. We stress education in this country. Well, I think we've got to work on television. How can you hope to turn the kids around when you are constantly promoting this stuff, all this violence and vulgarity."

Although his material is sometimes blue or risque, he says he never uses foul language.

The late Will Rogers was one of his heroes.

"One of the greatest humorists of all times, and he never used any four-letter words," Winters said. "You can be funny and not be dirty."

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