Trivia

On TV, one of his most beloved appearances was as a nostalgic guest star on a 1954 episode of I Love Lucy (1951) in which he played an old vaudevillian partner of Fred Mertz's (William Frawley). In the show the two, who once billed themselves as "Mertz & Kurtz," sing a couple of cute ditties: "Oh By Jingo" and "I Want a Girl Just Like the Girl Who Married Dear Old Dad." Later, Winninger joined the entire "Lucy" cast for a musical revue at Ricky's Tropicana Club, where numbers included "On the Boardwalk to Atlantic City," "By the Beautiful Sea" and "I Found a Peach on the Beach." Both Frawley and Winninger were vaudevillians in real life.

Of all the actors who starred in the original Broadway production of "Show Boat" in 1927, he is by far the one who had the most prolific film and television career.

His persona as a lovable captain was so well established from his having appeared in "Show Boat" that he was asked to play one yet again in A Perilous Journey (1953)).

He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6333 Hollywood Boulevard.

He created the role of Cap'n Andy in the original 1927 stage production of "Show Boat", a role which he repeated in the first (1932) Broadway revival and the 1936 film version (Show Boat (1936)) and which, from all accounts and the evidence provided in the 1936 film, became the greatest performance of his career.

Played Judy Garland's father in Little Nellie Kelly (1940) and Ziegfeld Girl (1941), both times portraying an Irishman. They also appeared together in Babes in Arms (1939) in which he played Garland's frequent co-star Mickey Rooney's father, portraying yet again an Irishman.

1912 he produced The Wall Street Girl in which he coached Will Rogers for his firs stage role which was almost a disaster as it was on the opening night that the Titanic sank,.

He shared the same birth date - May 26 - with Joseph Urban, who designed the sets for the original Broadway stage production of "Show Boat", and Sammy Lee, who choreographed it.

1912 married Blanche Ring a top actress.

He was the son of Rosalia (Grassler) and Franz Winninge, a violinist. His parents were Austrian immigrants.

Made his New York stage debut as a German comedian in his first stage role in Yankee Girl.

He was born in a log cabin in Athens, Wisconsin.