Biography
Born on 26 May 1884 in Athens, Wisconsin, Charles Winninger died on 27 January 1969 in Palm Springs, California. He first performed in vaudeville while still a child within his family’s stage act, then gained further experience traveling with assorted theatrical troupes before reaching Broadway in the musical comedy The Yankee Girl during 1910. His popularity grew rapidly as he took parts in numerous productions, chiefly revues mounted by George M. Cohan, the Shubert Brothers, and Florenz Ziegfeld. In 1925 he joined the original company of No, No, Nanette and performed the number “I Want To Be Happy.” Though already established, he moved into a signature role as Cap’n Andy Hawks for Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Show Boat in 1927. Success in that part prompted him to repeat it during the 1932 Broadway revival and again for the 1936 motion-picture adaptation that featured Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Helen Morgan, Paul Robeson, and Hattie McDaniel; he also broadcast the character on radio.
Earlier silent pictures had introduced him to the screen, yet his later ruggedly affable screen presence secured steady Hollywood employment. Among his sound-era credits were Three Smart Girls in 1936, Deanna Durbin’s first starring vehicle, Babes In Arms in 1939 alongside Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, Little Nellie Kelly in 1940 with Garland and George Murphy, Ziegfeld Girl in 1941, Coney Island in 1943 opposite Betty Grable and Phil Silvers, the 1945 State Fair remake scored by Richard Rodgers and Hammerstein and co-starring Jeanne Crain and Dick Haymes, and Give My Regards To Broadway in 1948. He returned once more to Broadway for the 1951 revival of Kern and Hammerstein’s Music In The Air, while continuing screen work that included the title role in John Ford’s The Sun Shines Bright of 1953, a picture the director cited as his personal favorite. For many years Winninger was married to the temperamental musical-comedy performer Blanche Ring.
Earlier silent pictures had introduced him to the screen, yet his later ruggedly affable screen presence secured steady Hollywood employment. Among his sound-era credits were Three Smart Girls in 1936, Deanna Durbin’s first starring vehicle, Babes In Arms in 1939 alongside Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, Little Nellie Kelly in 1940 with Garland and George Murphy, Ziegfeld Girl in 1941, Coney Island in 1943 opposite Betty Grable and Phil Silvers, the 1945 State Fair remake scored by Richard Rodgers and Hammerstein and co-starring Jeanne Crain and Dick Haymes, and Give My Regards To Broadway in 1948. He returned once more to Broadway for the 1951 revival of Kern and Hammerstein’s Music In The Air, while continuing screen work that included the title role in John Ford’s The Sun Shines Bright of 1953, a picture the director cited as his personal favorite. For many years Winninger was married to the temperamental musical-comedy performer Blanche Ring.