Pingu (fanon biography)

Paul Neil George Winters, OA MP*AC (born 6 July 1980), also known mononymously as Pingu, is an actor and television personality known for his eponymous show, Pingu. Born in Zürich, Switzerland, he was raised in Whitby in Yorkshire and began his career as a child actor and later went on to achieve massive success from Pingu, before taking a brief hiatus and acted in Pingu in the City, an adaptation of Pingu. He continues to be a cultural icon of the 1990s, being awarded the Order of Antarctica and the Order of the Merit of Penguins.

Early life
Winters was born on 6 July 1980 at the Balgrist University Hospital (German: Universitätsklinik Balgrist) in Zürich, Switzerland. The first of two children, his father, Paul Henry Winters (born Paul Arnold Winters Jr.) is a British-American former musician who now works as a courier. His mother, Polly Margaret (née Mead) is a British housewife who starred in multiple guidance tapes in the early to mid-1980s. His paternal grandfather is a musician and a weight-lifter who participated in several competitions, later retiring in the 1960s. Winters was an active child growing up, often visiting his friends' houses and homes, and loved playing sports, most particularly ice hockey. He has been described as strong-willed by peers, but is often prone to misbehaving. He has been described as "almost the polar opposite of his younger sister Pinga, who is quite shy and reserved."

Winters attended the Outdoors School for Excelling Penguins in Whitby, England, a mixed primary-secondary school, along with fellow pupils Pingo, Pingg, Pongi, and school sweetheart Pingi. He graduated in 2006.

Pingu: 1990-2006
Winters was inspired by watching films as a child, and has stated that some films such as Jaws and E.T. made an impression on him. Although he was interested by theatre as a child, he was not particularly interested in acting; "I wanted to become a marine biologist, because I didn't consider acting to be a 'true profession'. As I grew up, I started to think more about acting, and I thought about it even more when I was in school." Learning from his experiences of watching other people and his home movies, he auditioned for a supporting role as Hugo in the new pilot. After a series of auditions, he found a letter from the acting company; the letter congratulated the family on being hired for the job. After Winters' parents read the letter to him, he became shocked and fainted from the news. The studio then began to record a pilot in 1986, which was not leaked until the 2010s. The role, which was previously tested on another actor 6 years earlier, was given to Winters, and the character was subsequently renamed in the process as "Pingu". He began to adopt the name for himself, even in real-life situations, and began introducing himself as Pingu from then on. Pingu began to divide his time between school on weekdays and acting on weekends, with his parents setting up a schedule for him. "They told me to start speaking in gibberish, and so with the script I was given―which was no less than a plot, I had to use my actions to do what I had to do. It was confusing at first, really, but then it became sort of fun to improvise by inserting a few words here and there." Soon after the first episode aired, the show made some revenue, and the company that produced it divided its equal worth amongst themselves and the family. "The company didn't want us to be left out of the ordeal, so we took the money". In spite of the show's success, he kept the same schedule even until its final episode in 2006, stating that he "didn't want to fall into the trap of child actors" and "wanting to make sure [Pingu] was well behaved and come out unscathed from this whole ordeal". After the show ended, the money largely came from re-tapings of the show, and were given some revenue from the distributors. "It was a bunch of money. I wasn't used to it at first, but I dealt with it later on." Shortly thereafter, he retired from acting.

Intermediate period: 2006-2017
During his retirement, Pingu continued to maintain contact with his friends and partner; he strengthened his relationships by often performing gigs with them, and go to social events together. Not much else is known about his self-termed "intermediate period", other than he continued to strengthen his contact with his closest friends. Pingu, with his family, moved to New York in 2012, and began living on a suburban neighborhood of Queens, New York.

Personal life and relationships
Pingu's "first real friend" was Robby, who he met while fishing in a pond. They originally did not get along well, but after Robby sustained some injuries after breaking his arm in an enclosure, they bonded together. Pingu still maintains this relationship to this very day, and Robby has even joked about Pingu being his "boyfriend". Pingu first met Pingi during a school session, in which she was a new student there. Initially, they did not get along, as Pingi had already expressed her feelings for him, but after taking shelter from accidentally shattering a stranger's glass window with a snowball, their relationship became more closer. Pingu has no desire to marry or have children; "Things are fine the way they are." Pingu currently lives in Queens, New York City with his partner. He initially did not get along with Pingg and Pingo, until they hung out with each other more, and subsequently became friends shortly thereafter. Even after moving to New York City, they still get in contact with each other via e-mail and personalized video calls. Pingu first met fellow crew members Pendra, Pen-Pen, and Chef Fred while working on the set of Pingu in the City, and became acquainted with each other afterwards. After the original series ended, Pingu retired from acting to work on his relationships until his show rebooted in 2017.

Personal interests
Pingu occasionally plays music with his friends and younger sister, often playing instruments such as the keyboard, piano, zither, trumpet, saxophone, and classical organ. He is an avid sportsperson, recently taking up association football while living in New York City; his favorite pastimes are curling and hockey. Pingu is a foodie.

Awards and honours
On 2015, the 25th anniversary of Pingu, he was awarded the Order of Antarctica and the Order of the Merit of Penguins by the Antarctic Council in the UK.

Other notes
This is a fanon biography of Pingu, and as such those details are to be taken with a grain of salt. For the official biography of Pingu, go here → Pingu (canon biography)