Paul Winik, 82, dancer, photographer

By Casey Farrar , Globe Correspondent, 10/9/2003

Years before Paul Winik was a well-known commercial photographer with his own business in Boston, many called him "the teenage Fred Astaire" and watched him dance on Ed Sullivan's television show.

"When he was young, he had polio and was told by the doctors he was not supposed to be very active," his daughter Lisa said. "But he loved dancing and ended up taking lessons. He didn't want to stop, and I think it may have contributed to his getting better."

Mr. Winik, who danced with his late wife, Edna Mae, on Sullivan's "The Toast of the Town," and USO Show stages in the South Pacific during World War II, died at Presentation Nursing and Rehab Center in Boston after discontinuing kidney dialysis. He was 82.

Born in Boston and reared in the North End, Mr. Winik contracted polio when he was a boy. He was treated almost immediately and did not have to wear braces on his legs.

After graduating from Roxbury Memorial High School in 1938, he began his dancing career with Edna Mae in clubs around Boston. They were frequent favorites at The Frolics in Revere and performed for movie audiences awaiting shows at several theaters, his daughter Linda of Hyde Park said.

Always dressed in a tuxedo, Mr. Winik tap danced while Edna Mae specialized in ballet.

The Winiks were married in 1941 and danced with several bands, including Alvino Rey, The King Sisters, Woody Herman, Tommy Tucker, and Shep Fields during the 1940s and '50s. They also traveled to Tokyo and Japan with the USO show in 1945. In 1949, they had Linda, their first daughter, and continued to travel with their dancing act, carrying a suitcase that opened into a baby crib.

Ten years later when they had Lisa, they were beginning to settle down, and Mr. Winik eventually decided to make his longtime photography hobby a career.

"As my father danced, he became interested in photography," Lisa said. "He took pictures when he was younger, and he studied photography while he was traveling and performing."

A self-taught photographer, with dozens of personal photo albums from his years traveling and dancing, Mr. Winik opened Paul Winik Studios on the second floor of a Boylston Street building that is now part of Emerson College. He later became vice president and general manager of Fay Foto Service Inc. in Boston.

Mr. Winik, who took pride in creatively lighting his subjects, photographed several Massachusetts gubernatorial inaugurations.

"He was an amazing photographer and loved taking pictures," Lisa said. "Growing up, I always had nice 8-by-10 pictures of my birthday parties while everyone else had regular store-developed pictures."

After his wife's death in 1971, Mr. Winik opened another studio, Paul Winik Photography of Boston. He shot the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour, among other subjects, until 1986 when he retired and moved to Sun City, Fla. An avid golfer himself, he spent most of his free time in Florida improving his game.

In addition to his daughters, Mr. Winik leaves three grandsons and one great-grandson.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. today in Faggas Funeral Home in Watertown. Burial will be at Oak Grove Cemetery in Medford.