When it comes to great artists, every single one of them was or is influenced by another artist. Some may admire their work from afar, while others may go much further and seek mentorship. But this isn’t just limited to art; mentorships exist in every area of life at every level. For instance, Steve Jobs mentored Mark Zuckerberg, helping him figure ways to develop Facebook when he was starting out. Investor Warren Buffet mentored Bill gates, offering Microsoft founder invaluable business advice. If we look at entertainment, Steven Spielberg started tutoring a 16-year-old J.J Abrams when the legendary E.T. director hired Abrams to clean and tape old movies. Such special friendships also exist in the world of comedy; one such relationship was between two legendary comedians, Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters.
Winters has perhaps the most unique career origin story of anyone in the entertainment business. When he and his wife were still newlyweds back in 1948, he had lost a very valuable wristwatch. The couple didn’t have the money to buy a new one, so his wife Eileen came across a clipping for a talent contest, which was offering a brand new wristwatch as the top prize. She encouraged Jonathan to “go down and win it.” And from there, his performance led him to become a disc jockey who developed funny ad-libs and characters who eventually took over the show. When speaking of his mentor, Williams once described Winters as the “Comedy Buddha.” “Jonathan Winters is the reason I became a comedian,” Williams declared. In this video, we see the two legends when they were both guests on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson back in 1991.
Image via YouTube
In the video, Johnny already has Williams in a guest chair as the comedian discussed his experiences on his iconic T.V. sitcom “Mork & Mindy.” Soon, Carson introduces Winters to the set. The then-65-year-old comedian came out wearing a Union military uniform. As he walked on stage, he saluted and shook everyone’s hand, and you can just tell that Williams was simply over the moon to be sharing the stage with his good friend and mentor. Listening to the two men’s fast-thinking comic style, it’s easy to see how much the two men shared when it came to elements such as timing. Winters used more of a deadpan style while Williams was more expressive and wild, but the two had the same impeccable delivery!
Image via YouTube
You can relive one of the great moments these two comedic legends shared on T.V. in the video below.
