Late Night Last Century: Jonathan Winters Entertains Johnny Carson as Fictional Politicians
Screenshots from YouTube
Late Night Last Century is a weekly column highlighting some of the funniest and most unforgettable comedy from late night, talk shows, and variety shows of the 20th century that’s currently streaming on YouTube. Today, we go back to 1976, when Johnny Carson interviewed his pal Jonathan Winters, playing an ex-president, ambitious senator, and concerned voter.
In the beginning, there was Jonathan Winters. His first appearance on The Tonight Show was on May 5, 1955, fewer than eight months after the program began with Steve Allen in the host’s chair. Then came Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, and eventually Jay Leno, all of whom continued to benefit from having Winters seated across the desk.
Few comedians in history are more revered than Winters, who was a master storyteller, improviser, and character-player. Greg Garrison, the variety show veteran and longtime producer of The Dean Martin Show, once said Winters was one of the few performers for whom material was often never written: Martin, being the great straight man that he was, would simply walk out with Winters and go wherever he was taken.