Actor starred in 'Sounder,' 'King,' 'Roots: Next Generation'




Paul Winfield


LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Paul Winfield, an Academy Award-nominated actor who was known for his versatility in stage, film and television roles, including a highly praised 1978 depiction of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has died. He was 62.

Winfield died Sunday of a heart attack, said his agent Michael Livingston.

In 1968, Winfield played the boyfriend of Diahann Carroll in her situation comedy "Julia" -- a role that some suggest helped open television to other black performers.

Four years later Winfield's portrayal of the father in "Sounder" earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

He was Emmy-nominated for best actor in the title role of the 1978 miniseries "King," and nominated the next year in the best supporting actor category for playing a college chancellor willing to sing Negro spirituals to get donations for his school in "Roots: The Next Generation."

He finally won an Emmy in 1995 for a guest appearance on "Picket Fences." He played a federal judge whose rulings on busing inner-city children are challenged by a local resident.

Despite acclaim, Winfield was often relegated to supporting roles, including playing Jim in a 1974 remake of "Huckleberry Finn."

Sidney Poitier hired Winfield for his first movie role in "The Lost Man" in 1969. Other significant roles included an appearance in the Broadway play "Checkmates" with Denzel Washington, and his portrayal of Don King in a 1995 HBO movie.

A Los Angeles native, Winfield was born May 22, 1941. Until he was 8, he was raised by union organizer Lois Edwards, who later married Winfield's stepfather.

He was bused to the predominantly white Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles and was named best actor for three years in a row in an annual Southern California high school drama competition.

He later studied drama at four colleges before leaving the University of California at Los Angeles six credits short of a bachelor's degree.

He is survived by his sister, Patricia Wilson, of Las Vegas.

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Winfield, along with Cicely Tyson and Diana Ross made Oscar History by being the first three African Americans to be nominated for Lead performances...This record was not matched until three years ago when Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Halle Berry matched it...

Props to Paul for being a groundbreaker. To bad Hollywood didnt have better use of his talents as the years went on.....For all we have accomplished..We still gotta way to go..

This is too bad - he was one of those character actors who seemed to be in absolutely everything.

I hated to hear this on the news this morning. Peace to his soul.

Yeah, heard it on the news this morning too. They were showing an old interview tape and saying stuff like "Actor Paul Winfield, best known for his performances in ...." you know how it goes, so then you just brace yourself for what will come next....

Rest in peace, Mr. Winfield.

He also played a human Starfleet captain (Capt. Clark Terrell ) in the 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," and later an alien captain on a 1991 episode of TV's "Star Trek: The Next Generation.....
I mostly remember him from the TV series "Wiseguy" as Isaac Twine ....And the voice of Lucius Sweet with The Simpsons



May he rest in Piece....
[This message was edited Tue Mar 9 8:48:33 2004 by PusherMan]

its amazing that soo few black males have been nominated for a lead Academy Award...But im glad that Paul is getting credit for breaking racial barriers as an actor and not for his subpar staring roles in tv shows like "teen spirit" and "the charming"...remember that show? he was the mirror to somebody's princess....


and wow..i just read that he was openly gay:

Trivia
His partner of 30 years, set designer and architect Charles Gillan Jr., has died of a rare bone disease in LA. [5 March 2002]

from www.imdb.com




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[This message was edited Tue Mar 9 10:17:49 2004 by sosgemini]

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[This message was edited Tue Mar 9 10:17:06 2004 by Chico319]

sosgemini said:

You know what? I always figured Mr. Winfield was gay but I never knew for sure.

sosgemini said:

The only African-American actors to win Oscars:

Hattie McDaniel (Best Supporting Actress, Gone With the Wind)
Sidney Poitier (Best Actor, Lilies of the Field)
Louis Gossett Jr. (Best Supporting Actor, An Officer and a Gentleman)
Denzel Washington (Best Supporting Actor, Glory)
Whoopi Goldberg (Best Supporting Actress, Ghost)
Cuba Gooding Jr. (Best Supporting Actor, Jerry Maguire)
Halle Berry (Best Actress, Monster's Ball)
Denzel Washington (Best Actor, Training Day

Why didn't they mention his role as the Mirror in the short lived tv series the Charmings?

PusherMan said:

what about lead nominiation?

Sidney (twice)
Denzel (two)
Paul (once)

isnt that it?

sosgemini said:

Best African-American Lead Actor Nominees

1958: Sidney Poitier, The Defiant Ones
1963: Sidney Poitier*, Lilies of the Field
1970: James Earl Jones, The Great White Hope
1972: Paul Winfield, Sounder
1986: Dexter Gordon, 'Round Midnight
1989: Morgan Freeman, Driving Miss Daisy
1992: Denzel Washington, Malcolm X
1993: Laurence Fishburne, What's Love Got to Do with It
1994: Morgan Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption
1999: Denzel Washington, Hurricane
2001: Denzel Washington*, Training Day
2001: Will Smith, Ali

Best African-American Lead Actress Nominees

1954: Dorothy Dandridge, Carmen Jones
1972: Diana Ross, Lady Sings the Blues
1972: Cicely Tyson, Sounder
1974: Diahann Carroll, Claudine
1985: Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple
1993: Angela Bassett, What's Love Got to Do with It
2001: Halle Berry*, Monster's Ball

Best Supporting Actress

1939: Hattie McDaniel*, Gone with the Wind
1948: Ethel Waters, Pinky
1959: Juanita Moore, Imitation of Life
1961: Rita Moreno*, West Side Story
1967: Beah Richards, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
1983: Alfre Woodard, Cross Creek
1985: Margaret Avery, The Color Purple
1985: Oprah Winfrey, The Color Purple
1990: Whoopi Goldberg*, Ghost
1996: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Secrets and Lies
2002: Queen Latifah, Chicago

Best Supporting Actor

1969: Rupert Cross, The Reivers
1981: Howard E. Rollins Jr., Ragtime
1982: Louis Gossett Jr.*, An Officer and a Gentleman
1984: Adolph Caesar, A Soldier's Story
1987: Morgan Freeman, Street Smart
1987: Denzel Washington, Cry Freedom
1989: Denzel Washington*, Glory
1994: Samuel L. Jackson, Pulp Fiction
1996: Cuba Gooding Jr.*, Jerry Maguire
1999: Michael Clarke Duncan, The Green Mile
2003: Djimon Hounsou, In America

* WON
[This message was edited Tue Mar 9 10:53:33 2004 by PusherMan]

I can't believe this . He was very talented I will miss him

PusherMan said:

i love that rita is considered black...YOU GO RITA!! SHE ROCKS!!!

and let me give my first oscar prediction for next year...Irma P Hall will win best supporting actress for "The Lady Killer"..

watch!!

(this coming from the guy that predicted Charlize would win six months ago, here on the org..hehehehe)

PusherMan said:

this list is missing Rosie Perez for Fearless...

"i couldnt hold on..i couldnt hold on"...

PusherMan said:

He was also Julian Barlow on 227.

God Be With You.

kiss85 said:

ohh yeah, i forgot about it....

im still shocked he was that voice of Lucius Sweet.....and damn the net for not having a pic of Lucius...

Oh, no.

He was such a great actor. I mean, he did manly cop in The Terminator and old queen in Relax... It's Just Sex. That's quite a stretch, but he pulled off both parts real well.

man...hopefully this year won't be a repeat of last year, with all of these celebrities passin away.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

It just never seems to end , pass the tissues please

sosgemini said:

Sorry.....she is indeed a great actress....but she is not African-American...Birth Name: Rosa Maria Perez....Made film debut as Tina in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989)

Awards:

1993: Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award: Best Supporting Actress, Fearless; tied with Anna Paquin for The Piano
1993: Boston Society of Film Critics Award: Best Supporting Actress, Fearless
1993: Chicago Film Critics Award: Best Supporting Actress, Fearless
1993: Dallas Film Critics Association Award: Best Supporting Actress, Fearless
1994: Berlin Film Festival Outstanding Performance Award: (Special Mention), Fearless; awarded the Silver Bear

WOW...I just found out they have Remade Sounder from 1972...In 2003 and Paul played the Teacher.....that is realy exciting....send shivers down my back...
[This message was edited Wed Mar 10 0:22:17 2004 by PusherMan]

PusherMan said:

so then why was rita moreno mentioned? they are both rican....explain that mr man!!

and she *did* receive a best supporting actress nomination for fearless..and she has been nominated for NAACP awards on numerous occassions.....

sosgemini said:

But I think one of Rita's parents is black. Rosie is completely hispanic.

cant seem to find any info to support the statement.....but i did find this beautiful picture of her...

however, i do recall when whoopi won for Ghost all the media outlets pointed out she was the first actress to win an Oscar since Hattie McDonald....So im inclinded to say Rita is only Rican...

but then most puerta ricans are of african ancestory anyways.....

JediMaster said:

Rita is also a full fledged Puerto-Rican (Humacao, Puerto Rico) and both her parents were Puerto Rican.....(not realy sure about her dad though...).....So actually she does not belong in the African-American list at all.....touche away JediMaster :thimbsup:

Isn't Rita Moreno a triple threat? In addition to an Oscar I think she has a Tony and an Emmy (or maybe it's a Grammy?).

UptownDeb said:

quad thread....tony, emmy, oscar and grammy...first in history.....go sista girl!!

i remember 2 of his works

green eyes - he was looking for his son who had green eyes


and the KING mini series


ill miss him