--- description: Jonathan Winters, known to some as the king of ad-lib comedy, died April 11, 2013, at the age of 87. Famous for his improvisational offbeat... title: Remembering Jonathan Winters (1925–2013) image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt107a611a77bfda92/698a8eee18689209a46cdc57/138430805.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) # Remembering Jonathan Winters (1925–2013) by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Apr 12, 2013 8:13 PM CUT  FILE – APRIL 12: Actor-comedian Jonathan Winters died of natural causes April 11, 2013 in Montecito, California. Winters appeared in "Mork & Mindy," "Twilight Zone," "It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World," and was a voice actor in "The Smurfs." He was 87\. JONATHAN WINTERS -- Pictured: Actor/Comedian Jonathan Winters (Photo by Gerlad Smith/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) FILE – APRIL 12: Actor-comedian Jonathan Winters died of natural causes April 11, 2013 in Montecito, California. Winters appeared in "Mork & Mindy," "Twilight Zone," "It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World," and was a voice actor in "The Smurfs." He was 87\. JONATHAN WINTERS -- Pictured: Actor/Comedian Jonathan Winters (Photo by Gerlad Smith/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)NBC via Getty Images—2012 NBCUniversal, Inc. by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Apr 12, 2013 8:13 PM CUT Jonathan Winters, known to some as the king of ad-lib comedy, died April 11, 2013, at the age of 87\. Famous for his improvisational offbeat humor and quick wit, he inspired a generation of younger comedians, most notably Robin Williams. Though he appeared in several movies, including 1963’s _It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World_, it was on TV that Winters made his greatest impact. He starred in countless variety shows, was a favorite guest on _The Tonight Show_, and had a regular role, playing Robin Williams’ son, on _Mork & Mindy._ Winters died of natural causes at his home in Montecito, California. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7119260/remembering-jonathan-winters-1925-2013/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7119260/remembering-jonathan-winters-1925-2013/"},"headline":"Remembering Jonathan Winters (1925–2013)","datePublished":"2013-04-12T20:13:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T05:44:27.320Z","description":"Jonathan Winters, known to some as the king of ad-lib comedy, died April 11, 2013, at the age of 87. Famous for his improvisational offbeat...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7119260/remembering-jonathan-winters-1925-2013/","keywords":["ballet"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt107a611a77bfda92/698a8eee18689209a46cdc57/138430805.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt107a611a77bfda92/698a8eee18689209a46cdc57/138430805.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FILE – Actor-comedian Jonathan Winters Dies At 87 Jonathan Winters","caption":"FILE – Actor-comedian Jonathan Winters Dies At 87 Jonathan Winters","creditText":"NBC via Getty Images—2012 NBCUniversal, Inc.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7119260/remembering-jonathan-winters-1925-2013/","name":"Remembering Jonathan Winters (1925–2013)"}}]}] ```