Jonathan Winters (1925-2013) was elected to The Lambs in 1954 as a Professional Member. He was elected the same year as Richard L. Charles, the future shepherd.
Winters joined the United States Marine Corps during his senior year of high school. He served on the Battleship USS Wisconsin and Carrier USS Bon Homme Richard as an anti-aircraft gunner, taking part in the Battle of Okinawa. Upon his discharge, he attended the Dayton Art Institute. He began his entertainment career by winning a talent contest in 1950, which led to first hosting a children’s television show, then a game show, followed by a talk show.
On television, he was featured in episodes in the series “Omnibus,” “The Twilight Zone,” “The Bob Hope Show,” “Hot Dog,” “Wait Till Your Father Gets Home,” “Hee Haw,” and “Mork and Mindy.” Although nominated several times, his only Emmy win was for Best Supporting Actor in the situational comedy television series “Davis Rules.” He appeared in a number of motion pictures, including “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1964), “The Loved One” (1965), “Penelope” (1966), “Eight on the Lam” (1967), “Viva Max” (1969), “The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh” (1979), “The Longshot” (1986), “Moon Over Parador” (1988), and ‘”The Flintstones” (1994).
From 1960 through 2011, he recorded several comedy albums, winning Grammys for “The Little Prince” and “Crank Calls.” He was awarded the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for Humor in 1999.