# Paul Winfield

Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 – March 7, 2004) was an American 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 (1972), which earned him an Academy Award nomination. He portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1978 television miniseries King, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. Winfield was also known for his roles in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, The Terminator, L.A. Law, and 24 episodes of the sitcom 227. He received four Emmy nominations overall, winning in 1995 for his 1994 guest role in Picket Fences.

## Early years

Winfield was the son of Lois Beatrice Edwards, a single mother who was a union organizer in the garment industry. Although published obituaries stated he was born May 22, 1941 in Los Angeles, some sources indicate he was born May 22, 1939 in Dallas, Texas. His stepfather from the age of eight was Clarence Winfield, a city trash collector and construction worker. Winfield graduated from Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. From there, he attended the University of Portland, 1957–59; Stanford University, 1959; Los Angeles City College, 1959–63; University of California, Los Angeles, 1962–64; University of Hawaii, 1965 and the University of California, Santa Barbara, 1970–71, but did not earn a degree from any of them.

## Career

A lifetime member of The Actors Studio, Winfield carved out a diverse career in film, television, theater and voiceovers by taking groundbreaking roles at a time when black actors were rarely even cast. He first appeared in the 1965 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Runaway Racer" as Mitch, a race car mechanic. His first major feature film role was in the 1969 film The Lost Man starring Sidney Poitier. Winfield became well known to TV audiences when he appeared in several seasons of the groundbreaking television series Julia opposite Diahann Carroll. The show, filmed during a high point of racial tension in the U.S., was unique in featuring a black female as the central character. Winfield 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,; his co-star, Cicely Tyson, was nominated for Best Actress. Prior to their nominations and Diana Ross's for Lady Sings the Blues the same year, only three other black Americans – Dorothy Dandridge, Sidney Poitier and James Earl Jones – had ever been nominated for a leading role. Winfield also appeared in a different role in the 2003 Disney-produced TV remake of Sounder directed by Kevin Hooks, his co-star from the original. Winfield played "Jim the Slave" in Huckleberry Finn (1974), a musical based on the Mark Twain novel. Winfield would recall later in his career that as a young actor he had played one of the leads in a local repertory production of Of Mice and Men in whiteface - at the time, a black actor playing the role would have been unthinkable. Winfield also starred in several miniseries, including Scarlett, and two based on the works of novelist Alex Haley: Roots: The Next Generations and Queen: The Story of an American Family.
Winfield gained a new segment of fans for his brief but memorable roles in several science fiction television series and films. He portrayed Starfleet starship Captain Terrell, an unwilling minion of the villain Khan, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Lieutenant Ed Traxler, a friendly but crusty cop partnered with Lance Henriksen in The Terminator. In 1996, he was in the 'name' ensemble cast in Tim Burton's comic homage to 1950s science fiction Mars Attacks!, playing the complacently self-satisfied Lt. General Casey. On the small screen, he appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Darmok" as Dathon, an alien captain who communicates in allegories. He appeared in the second season Babylon 5 episode "Gropos" as General Richard Franklin, the father of regular character Dr. Stephen Franklin, and on the fairy tale sitcom The Charmings as The Evil Queen's wisecracking Magic Mirror. He also portrayed Julian Barlow in the last two seasons of the TV series 227.
Winfield also took on roles as homosexual characters in the films Mike's Murder in 1984 and the 1998 film Relax...It's Just Sex. He found success off-camera due to his unique voice. He provided voices for Spider-Man, The Magic School Bus, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child, Gargoyles, Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, K10C, and The Simpsons, voicing the Don King parody Lucius Sweet. In his voiceover career, Winfield is perhaps best known as narrator of the A&E true crime series City Confidential from 1998 until his death in 2004.
Throughout his career, Winfield frequently managed to perform in the theater. Checkmates (1988), his only Broadway production, co-starred Ruby Dee and was also the Broadway debut of Denzel Washington. Winfield 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 King and Roots: The Next Generations. In 1995, Winfield won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his appearance as Judge Harold Nance in the CBS drama Picket Fences.

## Personal life and death

Winfield was gay, but remained discreet about it in the public eye. Prior to realizing his sexuality, he was in a relationship with his Sounder co-star Cicely Tyson, living with her for about 18 months in the early 1970s. His partner of 30 years, architect Charles Gillan Jr., died of bone cancer on March 5, 2002.
Winfield long battled obesity and diabetes. On March 7, 2004, he died of a heart attack at Queen of Angels – Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles. Winfield and Gillan are interred together at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

## Filmography

Film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | The Perils of Pauline | African Servant | Uncredited |
| 1967 | Who's Minding the Mint? | Garbage man | Uncredited |
| 1969 | The Lost Man | Orville Turner | |
| 1970 | R. P. M. | Steve Dempsey | |
| 1971 | Brother John | Henry Birkart | |
| 1972 | Sounder | Nathan Lee Morgan | |
| 1972 | Trouble Man | Chalky Price | |
| 1973 | Gordon's War | Gordon Hudson | |
| 1974 | Conrack | Mad Billy | |
| 1974 | Huckleberry Finn | Jim | |
| 1975 | Hustle | Sergeant Louis Belgrave | |
| 1976 | High Velocity | Watson | |
| 1977 | Twilight's Last Gleaming | Willis Powell | |
| 1977 | The Greatest | Lawyer | |
| 1977 | Damnation Alley | Keegan | |
| 1978 | A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich | Butler | |
| 1981 | Carbon Copy | Bob Garvey | |
| 1982 | Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | Captain Clark Terrell | |
| 1982 | White Dog | Keys | |
| 1983 | On the Run | Harry | |
| 1984 | Mike's Murder | Philip Green | |
| 1984 | The Terminator | Lt. Ed Traxler | |
| 1986 | Blue City | Luther Reynolds | |
| 1987 | Death Before Dishonor | Ambassador | |
| 1987 | Big Shots | Johnnie Red | |
| 1988 | The Serpent and the Rainbow | Lucien Celine | |
| 1990 | Presumed Innocent | Judge Larren Lyttle | |
| 1993 | Cliffhanger | Walter Wright | |
| 1993 | Dennis the Menace | Chief of Police | |
| 1994 | The Killing Jar | Judge | Alternative title: Trapped |
| 1995 | In the Kingdom of the Blind, the Man with One Eye Is King | Papa Joe | |
| 1995 | In the Flesh [de] | William Stone | |
| 1996 | Original Gangstas | Reverend Dorsey | Alternative title: Hot City |
| 1996 | Mars Attacks! | Lt. General Casey | |
| 1996 | Dead of Night | Vernon | |
| 1996 | The Legend of Gator Face | Bob | |
| 1997 | Strategic Command | Rowan | |
| 1998 | Relax...It's Just Sex | Auntie Mahalia | |
| 1998 | Assignment Berlin [de] | Al Spector | |
| 1999 | Catfish in Black Bean Sauce | Harold Williams | |
| 2000 | Knockout | Ron Regent | |
| 2001 | Vegas, City of Dreams | Edgar Jones | |
| 2002 | Second to Die | Detective Grady | |
| Television ||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | Perry Mason | Mitch | Episode: "The Case of the Runaway Racer" |
| 1966 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Military M.P. | Episode: "The Minus x Affair" |
| 1966 | Daktari | Roy Kimba | 2 episodes |
| 1967 | Cowboy in Africa | Kabutu | 1 episode |
| 1968 | Death Valley Days | Bart | Episode: Bbread on the Desert" |
| 1968 | Mission: Impossible | Klaus | Episode: "Trial by Fury" |
| 1968–1972 | Ironside | Robert Phillips / Luther Benson | 2 episodes |
| 1969 | Mannix | Walter Lucas | Episode: "Odds Against Donald Jordan" |
| 1969 | The High Chaparral | Graham Jessup | Episode: "Sea of Enemies" |
| 1969 | Room 222 | Jim Williams | Episode: "Arizona State Loves You" |
| 1969–1970 | Julia | Paul Cameron | 4 episodes |
| 1970 | The Young Rebels | Pompey | Episode: "Unbroken Chains" |
| 1973 | The Horror at 37,000 Feet | Dr. Enkalla | Television film |
| 1974 | It's Good to Be Alive | Roy Campanella | Television film |
| 1977 | Green Eyes | Lloyd Dubeck | Television film |
| 1978 | King | Martin Luther King Jr. | Miniseries |
| 1979 | Backstairs at the White House | Emmett Rogers Sr. | Miniseries |
| 1979 | Roots: The Next Generations | Dr. Horace Huguley | Episode #1.5 |
| 1980 | Angel City | Cy | Television film |
| 1981 | The Sophisticated Gents | Richard "Bubbles" Wiggins | Television film |
| 1982 | Dreams Don't Die | Officer Charles "Charlie" Banks | Television film |
| 1982 | The Blue and the Gray | Jonathan Henry | Miniseries |
| 1983 | For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story | Sampson | Television film |
| 1984 | The Fall Guy | Bert Perkins | Episode: "Old Heroes Never Die" |
| 1985 | Go Tell It on the Mountain | Gabriel Grimes | Television film |
| 1985 | Murder, She Wrote | Det. Lieutenant Starkey | Episode: "Tough Guys Don't Die" |
| 1986 | Under Siege | Andrew Simon | Television film |
| 1987 | Mighty Pawns | Mr. Wright | Television film |
| 1987–1988 | The Charmings | The Magic Mirror | 19 episodes |
| 1988–1990 | 227 | Julian C. Barlow | 24 episodes |
| 1989 | The Women of Brewster Place | Sam Michael | Miniseries |
| 1989 | Wiseguy | Isaac Twine | 6 episodes |
| 1990 | L.A. Law | Derron Holloway | 4 episodes |
| 1991 | Family Matters | Jimmy Baines | Episode: "Finding the Words" |
| 1991 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Captain Dathon | Episode: "Darmok" |
| 1991 | The Wish That Changed Christmas | Mr. Smith | Voice, Television film |
| 1993 | Batman: The Animated Series | Earl Cooper | Voice, episode: "The Mechanic" |
| 1993 | Irresistible Force | Commander Toole | Television film |
| 1994 | Scarlett | Big Sam | Miniseries |
| 1994 | Picket Fences | Judge Harold Nance | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | Babylon 5 | General Richard Franklin | Episode: "GROPOS" |
| 1995 | Tyson | Don King | Television film |
| 1995 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | Father | Voice, episode: "Beauty and the Beast" |
| 1995 | White Dwarf | Dr. Akada | Television film |
| 1995–1996 | Gargoyles | Jeffrey Robbins | Voice, 3 episodes |
| 1995–2003 | Touched by an Angel | Sam | 12 episodes |
| 1996 | Second Noah | Ramses | Episode: "Ghost Story" |
| 1996–1997 | The Magic School Bus | Mr. Ruhle | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 1996–1998 | The Simpsons | Lucius Sweet | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 1997 | Spider-Man | Omar Mosely / Black Marvel | Voice, 3 episodes |
| 1998 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Pastor Roscoe Jones | Episode: "The Soul of Winter" |
| 1999–2000 | Batman Beyond | Sam Young | Voice, 3 episodes |
| 1999–2004 | City Confidential | Narrator | 94 episodes |
| 1999 | Strange Justice | Thurgood Marshall | Television film |
| 2002 | Crossing Jordan | Dr. Phillip Sanders | Episode: "Four Fathers" |
| 2003 | Sounder | The Teacher | Television film |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Awards | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1973 | Academy Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Sounder | Nominated |
| 1978 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special | King | Nominated |
| 1979 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Special | Roots: The Next Generations (For "Episode V") | Nominated |
| 1982 | NAACP Image Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Series or Miniseries or Television Movie | The Sophisticated Gents | Won |
| 1995 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series | Picket Fences: Season 3 | Won |
| 1997 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special | The Legend of Gator Face | Nominated |
| 1999 | St. Louis International Film Festival | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | Won |
| 2004 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor, TV Movie or Limited Series | Sounder | Nominated |