PAUL WINFIELD
Name: Paul Edward Winfield
Born: 22 May 1939 Los Angeles, California, USA
Died: 7 March 2004 Los Angeles, California, USA
Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 - March 7, 2004) was an Emmy Award-winning
and Academy Award-nominated American television and film actor. He was known for
his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family
during the Great Depression in the landmark film Sounder and as Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. in the television miniseries King. Off camera, Winfield narrated
the television crime series City Confidential.
Winfield carved out a diverse career in film, television, theater and voiceovers
by taking ground breaking roles at a time when African-American actors were
scarcely cast. His first major feature film role was in the 1969 film, The Lost
Man starring Sidney Poitier. Winfield first became well-known to television
audiences when he appeared for several years opposite Diahann Carroll on the
groundbreaking television series Julia. Filmed during a high point of racial
tensions in the United States, the show was unique in featuring an African-American
female as the central character. He also starred as Martin Luther King, Jr. in
the 1978 miniseries King.
In 1973, Winfield was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the
1972 film Sounder, and his co-star in that film, Cicely Tyson, was nominated for
Best Actress. Prior to their nominations, only two other African Americans -
Dorothy Dandridge and Sidney Poitier - had ever been nominated for a leading
role. He appeared in the 2003 Disney-produced television remake of Sounder.
Winfield played the part of Jim the Slave in Huckleberry Finn (1974) which was
a musical based on the novel by Mark Twain. Winfield would recall late in his
career that as a young actor he had played one of the two leads in Of Mice and
Men in local repertory, made up in whiteface, since a black actor playing it
would have been unthinkable. Winfield also starred in more recent miniseries,
including Roots: The Next Generations, Alex Haley'sQueen: The Story of an
American Family and Scarlett.
The actor gained a new segment of fans for his brief but memorable roles in
several science fiction TV programs and movies. He portrayed Captain Clark
Terrell, an unwilling minion of Khan Noonien Singh, in Star Trek II: The Wrath
of Khan and a friendly but crusty cop partnered with Lance Henriksen in The
Terminator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. On the small screen Star Trek
franchise, he appeared as an alien captain who communicates in metaphor in the
Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Darmok. He also appeared on Babylon 5,
as General Richard Franklin, the father of regular character Dr. Stephen
Franklin, in the second season episode "Gropos."
Winfield also took on roles as gay characters in the films Mike's Murder in 1984
and again in 1998 in the film Relax...It's Just Sex.
Winfield found success off-camera due to his unique voice. He provided voices on
the cartoons Spider-Man, The Magic School Bus, Batman Beyond, K10C, and The
Simpsons, on the latter voicing the Don King parody Lucius Sweet. In his
voiceover career, he perhaps best-known as the narrator for the A&E true crime
series City Confidential, a role he began in 1998 and continued with until his
death in 2004.
Throughout his career, Winfield frequently managed to perform in the theater.
His only Broadway production, Checkmates, in 1988, co-starring Ruby Dee, was
also the Broadway debut of Denzel Washington. He also appeared in productions at
the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington,
D.C.
He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance in the King and Roots:
The Next Generations. He won an Emmy Award, in 1995, for Outstanding Guest Actor
in a Drama Series, for his appearance as Judge Harold Nance in an episode of the
CBS drama Picket Fences.
Name: Paul Edward Winfield
Born: 22 May 1939 Los Angeles, California, USA
Died: 7 March 2004 Los Angeles, California, USA
Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 - March 7, 2004) was an Emmy Award-winning
and Academy Award-nominated American television and film actor. He was known for
his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family
during the Great Depression in the landmark film Sounder and as Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. in the television miniseries King. Off camera, Winfield narrated
the television crime series City Confidential.
Winfield carved out a diverse career in film, television, theater and voiceovers
by taking ground breaking roles at a time when African-American actors were
scarcely cast. His first major feature film role was in the 1969 film, The Lost
Man starring Sidney Poitier. Winfield first became well-known to television
audiences when he appeared for several years opposite Diahann Carroll on the
groundbreaking television series Julia. Filmed during a high point of racial
tensions in the United States, the show was unique in featuring an African-American
female as the central character. He also starred as Martin Luther King, Jr. in
the 1978 miniseries King.
In 1973, Winfield was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the
1972 film Sounder, and his co-star in that film, Cicely Tyson, was nominated for
Best Actress. Prior to their nominations, only two other African Americans -
Dorothy Dandridge and Sidney Poitier - had ever been nominated for a leading
role. He appeared in the 2003 Disney-produced television remake of Sounder.
Winfield played the part of Jim the Slave in Huckleberry Finn (1974) which was
a musical based on the novel by Mark Twain. Winfield would recall late in his
career that as a young actor he had played one of the two leads in Of Mice and
Men in local repertory, made up in whiteface, since a black actor playing it
would have been unthinkable. Winfield also starred in more recent miniseries,
including Roots: The Next Generations, Alex Haley'sQueen: The Story of an
American Family and Scarlett.
The actor gained a new segment of fans for his brief but memorable roles in
several science fiction TV programs and movies. He portrayed Captain Clark
Terrell, an unwilling minion of Khan Noonien Singh, in Star Trek II: The Wrath
of Khan and a friendly but crusty cop partnered with Lance Henriksen in The
Terminator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. On the small screen Star Trek
franchise, he appeared as an alien captain who communicates in metaphor in the
Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Darmok. He also appeared on Babylon 5,
as General Richard Franklin, the father of regular character Dr. Stephen
Franklin, in the second season episode "Gropos."
Winfield also took on roles as gay characters in the films Mike's Murder in 1984
and again in 1998 in the film Relax...It's Just Sex.
Winfield found success off-camera due to his unique voice. He provided voices on
the cartoons Spider-Man, The Magic School Bus, Batman Beyond, K10C, and The
Simpsons, on the latter voicing the Don King parody Lucius Sweet. In his
voiceover career, he perhaps best-known as the narrator for the A&E true crime
series City Confidential, a role he began in 1998 and continued with until his
death in 2004.
Throughout his career, Winfield frequently managed to perform in the theater.
His only Broadway production, Checkmates, in 1988, co-starring Ruby Dee, was
also the Broadway debut of Denzel Washington. He also appeared in productions at
the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, and The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington,
D.C.
He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance in the King and Roots:
The Next Generations. He won an Emmy Award, in 1995, for Outstanding Guest Actor
in a Drama Series, for his appearance as Judge Harold Nance in an episode of the
CBS drama Picket Fences.