In Remembrance: Paul Winfield

     Oscar nominated actor Paul Winfield has passed away on March 7th at the age of 62.

     Winfield was born May 22, 1941 in Los Angeles and made his first screen appearance uncredited as a garbage man in 1967’s Who’s Minding the Mint?

     He starred in the landmark 1968 TV series Julia as the boyfriend of Diahann Carroll. The shown became notable as it was the first series with a black actress in the leading role.

     He had a supporting role in Brother John (1971), starring Sidney Poitier. In 1972 he was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Sounder. He also co-starred in the cool Blaxploitation film Trouble Man.  Winfield appeared in the 1974 Oscar nominated Jon Voight drama Conrack. He also played opposite Burt Reynold’s in the Robert Aldrich cop drama Hustle (1975).

     In Denzel Washington’s debut film Carbon Copy (1981), he played Bob Garvey. He appeared in two 1980s science-fiction classics, playing a starship captain in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and suffering Schwarzenegger’s wrath in The Terminator, directed by James Cameron. He had a creepy role in Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988). He would also appear in the Sylvester Stallone action flick Cliffhanger (1993) and the Walter Matthau comedy Dennis The Menace (1993). One of his last memorable big-screen roles was in Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! (1996). Winfield would eventually appear in over 100 drama and comedy films as both a powerful lead and a strong supporting actor.    

     Winfield appeared in a number of TV series in recurring and guest roles. He was a semi regular as Sam on Touched By An Angel and appeared on Derron Holloway on L.A. Law. He was nominated for Emmy Awards for his performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1978 mini-series King, and his supporting role in Roots: The Next Generation. He won an Emmy in 1995 for the TV series Picket Fences. Winfield played boxing promoter Don King in the 1995 TV movie Tyson. He also appeared in the groundbreaking sci-fi series Babylon 5 as Gen. Richard Franklin in 1995. 

     He is also remembered as the voice of Sam Young in Batman Beyond and he even parodied Don King as Lucius Sweet in The Simpsons. His final role was in the 2003 TV remake of Sounder.

-John Gibbon