Charles Winninger

Charles Winninger
Charles Winninger

in State Fair (1945)
Born May 26, 1884(1884-05-26)
Athens, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died January 27, 1969(1969-01-27) (aged 84)
Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1915–1960
Spouse Blanche Ring (1912-1951)
Gertrude Walker (1951-1969) (his death)

Charles Winninger (May 26, 1884 – January 27, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals, but equally at home in drama.

Biography

He began as a vaudeville actor. His most famous stage role was as Cap'n Andy Hawks in the original production of the Jerome Kern - Oscar Hammerstein II musical classic Show Boat in 1927, a role that he reprised – to great acclaim – in the 1932 stage revival and the 1936 film version of the show. He became so identified with the role, and with his "persona" as a riverboat captain, that he played several variations of the role, notably on the radio program Maxwell House Show Boat, which was clearly inspired by, but not actually based on, the Broadway musical.

After the 1936 Show Boat, Winninger largely abandoned the stage and stayed on in Hollywood, becoming one of its most beloved and most often seen character actors. He appeared in such classics as the 1937 Nothing Sacred (as the drunken doctor who misdiagnoses Carole Lombard), the 1939 Destry Rides Again (as Wash, the sheriff who hires James Stewart as his deputy), as Deanna Durbin's father in the film Three Smart Girls, and as Abel Frake in the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein film musical State Fair. He played the protective Irish Grandfather in MGM's film version of George M. Cohan's Little Nellie Kelly (1940), and the father of a budding show-girl in Ziegfeld Girl (1941), both starring Judy Garland. In all of these films, Winninger was the very image of the kindly, lovable, chubby, grandfatherly figure, but in "Show Boat", especially, he showed that he could play a dramatic, emotional scene as well as any serious dramatic actor. He returned to Broadway only once more - for the 1951 revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Music in the Air.

Winninger had the lead role in only one film, 1953's The Sun Shines Bright, John Ford's remake of his own Judge Priest. Winninger played the role that Will Rogers had undertaken in 1934.

Winninger made a notable television appearance in 1954 in I Love Lucy as Barney Kurtz, the former Vaudevillian partner of Fred Mertz (played by William Frawley) in an episode titled "Mertz and Kurtz".

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Charles Winninger — en State Fair (1945) Nacimiento 26 de mayo de 1884 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Charles Winninger — Dans La Foire aux illusions (1945) Données clés Naissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Maxwell House Show Boat — Charles Winninger as Captain Henry, 1937. Maxwell House Show Boat was the top radio show in the United States from 1933 to 1935.[1] The program was sponsored by Maxwell House coffee, and it aired on NBC Radio Thursday nights, 9 pm. The first show …   Wikipedia

  • Show Boat (1936 film) — Infobox Film name = Show Boat image size = caption = director = James Whale producer = Carl Laemmle Jr. writer = Edna Ferber (novel) Oscar Hammerstein II narrator = starring = Irene Dunne Allan Jones Charles Winninger Paul Robeson Helen Morgan… …   Wikipedia

  • Show Boat — Infobox Musical name = Show Boat boxwidth = 21em image size = 0 caption = Window card for the 1994 revival music = Jerome Kern lyrics = Oscar Hammerstein II book = Oscar Hammerstein II basis = Edna Ferber s 1926 novel Show Boat productions=1927… …   Wikipedia

  • Show Boat (comédie musicale) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Show Boat (homonymie). Show Boat Livret Oscar Hammerstein II Lyrics Oscar Hammerstein II Musique Jerome Kern Mise en scène …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Blanche Ring — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Blanche Ring Blanche Ring en 1906 Nacimiento 24 de abril de 1871 …   Wikipedia Español

  • My Life with Caroline — Theatrical poster Directed by Lewis Milestone Produced by Lewis Milestone Ronald Colman Wi …   Wikipedia

  • Little Nellie Kelly — Infobox Film name = Little Nellie Kelly image size = 215px caption = theatrical poster director = Norman Taurog producer = Arthur Freed writer = George M. Cohan (play) Jack McGowan (screenplay) narrator = starring = Judy Garland George Murphy… …   Wikipedia

  • Barricade (1939 film) — Infobox Film name = Barricade caption = Barricade poster artwork director = Gregory Ratoff producer = Edward Kaufman writer = Granville Walker starring = Alice Faye Warner Baxter Charles Winninger Arthur Treacher Keye Luke music = David Buttolph… …   Wikipedia

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