Jonathan Winters (1925-2013)

No doubt that a lot of us grew up with Jonathan Winters, perhaps in his various film roles (like Lennie Pike in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with his memorable encounter with a pair of gas station attendants) or as Mearth, the son of "Mork and Mindy".

My first encounter with Winters was as the voice of Sappy Stanley* on the "Tiny Toon Adventures" episode, "Who Bopped Bugs Bunny". Though the episode was uneven, Winters was fantastic, making the most of his part, especially with the line (still one of my favorite lines of the show), "American cinema is nothing more than brain pudding for the common rabble. You and your precious rabbit deserve each other!"

We've lost a fine comic talent. May he rest in peace.

* - Looking back, I don't think they were trying to hide it, but the character always struck me as a Jerry Lewis analogue. Think about it: all his movies basically the same, a silly voice and a serious voice, they love him in France. Need I say more?