The Death of Julian Winter

For many years, Clifton and Mabelle lived at The Osborne Apartments, 205 West 57th Street in New York City. Construction of The Osborne was completed in 1885, and was designed by James Edward Ware. It sits at the northwest corner of 57th Street and 7th Avenue, diagonally across from Carnegie Hall. Across the years, you find among it's famous residents Leonard Bernstein, Van Cliburn, Shirley Booth, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Sylvia Miles and Harold Clurman.

In December, 1931, Clifton Webb was appearing in the hit Dietz and Schwartz revue "Three's A Crowd" which also starred Fred Allen, Tamara Geva, and Libby Holman. Making their Broadway debut were the performers Allan Jones and Fred MacMurray. Both Jones and MacMurray would begin their Hollywood careers in 1935, after one more Broadway production, "Roberta," which closed in 1934.

Among the other residents of The Osborne in 1931, was a onetime actor named Julian Winter. Born Julian Winterfeld, he worked as a hotel manager in Brooklyn in 1920, and along the way, landed a role in a Rudolf Friml operetta called "The Vagabond King" which ran from September, 1925 to December, 1926. In 1930, Winter received another role in Jed Harris' production of "The Inspector General," which starred Lillian Gish. The good news was that Winter had an acting job. The bad news is that Jed Harris was the director.

Undeniably talented, Harris produced, produced and directed, or directed "Uncle Vanya," "A Doll's House," "Our Town," and "The Crucible." He cast Laurence Olivier in his first Broadway role and he had a real talent for self promotion. For all his talents, Harris had a mean streak that he could whip out at a moments notice. Beatrice Straight said, "He was a bully." His biographer, Martin Gottfried said "Arrogance, egoism, cruelty, and Machiavellianism kept his talent from being spent, and that was his greatest tragedy." George S. Kaufman had expressed a wish that, on his death, he be cremated and his ashes were to be thrown in Jed Harris' face. 

Harris was known to be responsible for two suicides, and complicit in a third. Enter Julian Winter.

"The Inspector General" was opening on December 23, 1930 at the Hudson Theater on West 44th Street. Shortly after noon, Clifton Webb's chauffeur brought the car around to the front of The Osborne. If there hadn't been changes to the building, the chauffeur and the car would have been shielded from the elements by an elegant porte-cochère that extended from the front door to the street.

As the chauffeur waited, eight floors above, Julian Winter was in full blown panic mode over his opening night in "The Inspector General." His wife and father tried to calm him down. Finally, just before 12:15, Winter rushed to the window and jumped. His body hit the street, narrowly missing Webb's chauffeur.

The written police report says:

"Jumped from 8th floor to roadway in front of 205 W 57 - 12 story apt. house. Wife & his father in apt. at the time. Det. Gilman assigned."

The physical examination states:

"Body that of extremely obese white adult male of stated age. Medium height , dark brown hair & eyes. No P.M. rigidity. The top of the skull has been crushed in and the brains have extruded through a rent in the whole vertex. Partial evisceration through a large laceration in abdominal wall. Large laceration over right hip exposing fractured pelvis. Compound fractures both arms and both legs all bones. Multiple fractures of the ribs."

So, at forty two years old, Julian Winter paid an ultimate price for his art, almost taking Webb's chauffeur with him.

"The Inspector General" opened, as scheduled, on December 23, 1930. An understudy went on in Winter's place that night. The show closed seven performances later, before the new year.