Talk:Jonathan Winters

Subject's name - III or Jr or nothing...
The recent series of edits & reversions over the subject's name caught my attention so I took a look at the cited references and am coming up a little empty. The filmreference.com ref, that says the subject's name is "Jonathan Harshman Winters III" is actually a circular reference that links back to this article. The Beverly Hills courier ref only mentions the subject's name as being Jonathan Winters. So, during his lifetime and in the references, the subject was not referred to as "Jr" or as "III" - I am not sure what his birth certificate name was or if he was ever identified in other sources as "Jr" or as "III". I think the article need to rely on what the sources state in this matter. Shearonink (talk) 14:43, 16 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I've looked a bit and as far as I can find this is the only place that has info on his father and here he is referred to as II not Jr. Ofcource Geni isn't a reliable source so I'm not sure what to go on but I still find it unnecessary to change it to Jr isntead of just keeping it as II. — Preceding unsigned comment added by *Treker (talk • contribs) 15:20, 16 September 2016 (UTC) (UTC)
 * A couple of things... yeah, sites like Geni & Ancestry aren't usually considered to be reliable, mostly because they are user-edited sources (just like Wikipedia). If the source was quoting a government document or had a reliable source to back it up then that would be a different matter.  As a usual practice, I always treat information published on any of the genealogical websites with skepticism and looks for sources beyond what the site states.
 * One more thing is that the particular page you referenced has no sources. And if the father is a "II" then who was the "1st"?  Even from that Geni page the paternal grandfather was not named Sr or 1st...
 * I think until a reliable source is found that states what Jonathan Winters' legal name was or
 * if he was referred to in family documents as III/3rd etc. or
 * is referred to as "3rd" in a reliable source (to keep the various generations from being mixed-up since, after all, the ancestral winters family was prominent in Dayton Ohio history etc)
 * then the name should be only stated as "Jonathan Harshman Winters" without any numbered designation following it.
 * OH! Eureka, here are some answers:
 * Just found find this little bio, written up on the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) website (an official State of Ohio source): http://ead.ohiolink.edu/xtf-ead/view?docId=ead/ODa0030.xml;chunk.id=bioghist_1;brand=default . So the comedian Jonathan Winters was named for his father who, in turn, was named for the comedian's great-grandfather (1834-1915). So the great-grandfather was the first person with that name, the comedian's father (1898-1975) was 2nd and the comedian himself was 3rd.
 * Also came across this 1889 book: A Sketch of the Winters Family (edited by Jonathan Harshman Winters), written by the comedian's great-grandfather the year before the father was born.
 * Personally, I find the practice of appending I/II/III or Sr/Jr instead of a year-range to be jarring. If the lifetime-span is used in conjunction with a numbered designation that lays out all the information and if the I/II/II etc can be verified from reliable sources then I think the numeric designation is verified and would be allowable under WP accepted practices.
 * Regarding the usage of "Jr" in this article: I think that Sr/Jr system is usually used in conjunction with the son being named after the father and in Jonathan Winters the comedian's naming that is not the case, the name goes from great-grandfather->father->comedian, so, in my opinion, the naming convention in this article should be "III" as in the 3rd person with that name. Shearonink (talk) 16:33, 16 September 2016 (UTC)
 * If an editor comes along and wants to change the name to "Jr" they can be referred to this talk page in any pertinent edit summaries etc. Shearonink (talk) 16:34, 16 September 2016 (UTC)
 * This is some good finds. Nice to have this cleared up.&#42;Treker (talk) 17:05, 16 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Unless it's on his birth certificate it's not his legal name. Unless he used it in real life, it's not even his go-to name. I don't remember [i]ever[/i] seeing "starring Jonathan Winters III" in any credits list or on any talk show where he was a guest or on ... anything, for that matter. It would seem that someone should come up with better documentation before declaring that Mr Winters was a III. 203.160.80.102 (talk) 17:19, 23 May 2024 (UTC)

Winters/Good Humor connection
I remember Mr. Winters doing commercial work for the Good Humor company which produced ice cream novelties/treats. I believe these were done in the 70's. He would be different characters extolling the treats and was quite funny to boot. Should this info be included in the article?THX1136 (talk) 15:10, 27 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I remember this too, but our memories are not verifiable. It should only be included if a reliable, published source can be found that talks about his appearances in ads for Good Humor.  General Ization   Talk
 * You're welcome->Reuters obit: "Winters also became familiar for his commercial work on behalf of such brands as Hefty trash bags, Good Humor ice cream and the California Egg Commission." There are also numerous YouTube videos of his commercials, a "cite AV/video" template could also possibly be used as a source. Shearonink (talk) 15:55, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

HBO series early 1980s
Does anyone else recall Mr. Winters early 1980s show on (I believe) HBO? I can't find any reference to it on any of the major search engines. I can't even accurately recall the name, but it featured Mr. Winters essentially doing prop improv in what appeared to be his attic or shed or something like that. Any info users care to share would be appreciated. Thank you Posthocergopropterhoc (talk) 06:02, 8 January 2017 (UTC)