Signifying intelligence, eloquence, versatility and quiet intensity,
one of the more important, critically acclaimed black actors to gain a
Hollywood foothold in the 1970s was Paul Winfield. He was born in 1939 in
Dallas, Texas, where he lived in his early years before moving with
his family to Los Angeles' Watts district. He showed early promise as a
student at Manual Arts High School, earning distinction with several
performance awards. As a senior, he earned his first professional
acting job and extended his theatrical education with a two-year
scholarship to the University of Portland in Oregon. Subsequent
scholarships led to his studies at Stanford and Los Angeles City
College, among other colleges. He left U.C.L.A. just six credits short of
his Bachelor's degree.Paul's first big break came in 1964 when actor/director
Burgess Meredith gave him a role in Le
Roi Jones' controversial one-act play "The Dutchman and the Toilet".
Director Meredith cast him again four years in "The Latent
Heterosexual" with Zero Mostel. Although he
won a contract at Columbia Pictures in 1966 and built up his on-camera
career with a succession of television credits, he continued to focus
on the legitimate stage. A member of the Stanford Repertory Theatre, he
concentrated on both classic and contemporary plays. In 1969, Paul
joined the Inner City Cultural Center Theatre in Los Angeles for two
years, which offered a drama program for high school students.In the late 1960s, Paul redirected himself back to performing on
television and in films with guest work in more than 40 series on the
small screen, including a boyfriend role on the first season of the
landmark black sitcom Julia (1968)
starring Diahann Carroll. In films, he
was given a featured role in the
Sidney Poitier film
Bądź w porcie nocą (1969), and earned
comparable roles in R.P.M. (1970) and
Brother John (1971) before major
stardom occurred.1972 proved to be a banner year for Paul after
winning the male lead opposite Cicely Tyson
in the touching classic film
Sounder (1972).... His towering performance
as a sharecropper who is imprisoned and tortured for stealing a ham for
his impoverished family earned him an Oscar nomination for "Best Actor"
-- the third black actor (Sidney Poitier
and James Earl Jones preceded him) to
receive such an honor at the time.From there a host of films and quality television roles began arriving
on his doorstep. In mini-movies, Paul portrayed various
historical/entertainment giants including Thurgood Marshall, Don King
and baseball's Roy Campanella, and was Emmy-nominated for his portrayal
of Martin Luther King, Jr. in
Martin Luther King (1978) with Sounder co-star
Cicely Tyson as wife Coretta. Throughout
the 1970s and 1980s, he earned solid distinction in such prestige
projects as
Backstairs at the White House (1979),
Korzenie: Następne pokolenia (1979)
(another Emmy nomination),
The Sophisticated Gents (1981),
W imię honoru (1982),
Sister, Sister (1982),
James Baldwin's
Go Tell It on the Mountain (1985),
Oblężenie (1986) and
The Women of Brewster Place (1989).Although the big screen did not offer the same consistent quality
following his breakthrough with Sounder, he nevertheless turned in
strong roles in Conrack (1974),
Huckleberry Finn (1974),
A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich (1977)
(again with Ms. Tyson),
Aleja potępienia (1977),
Star Trek II: Gniew Khana (1982)
and Biały pies (1982).Surprisingly, Paul never achieved the promise of a
Sidney Poitier-like stardom and his roles
diminished in size. Relegated to character roles, he still appeared in
such quality television as
Jeden dzień z życia pewnej pary (1994),
although he was not the major focus. After two nominations, he finally
won the Emmy for a guest performance as a judge on
Gdzie diabeł mówi dobranoc (1992). Paul's
showier work at this period of time included the film
Spotkanie po latach (1999)
and a surprise cross-dressing cameo as Aunt Matilda in
Relax... It's Just Sex (1998).On stage, Paul graced such productions as "Richard III" (at New York's
Lincoln Center Theatre), "Othello", "The Merry Wives of Windsor", "The
Seagull", "A Few Good Men", "Happy Endings" and "Checkmates", which
became his sole Broadway credit. Paul also served as Artist in
Residence at the University of Hawaii and subsequently at the
University of California at Santa Barbara.In his final years, Winfield narrated the A&E crime series
City Confidential (1998),
appeared as a teacher in a television adaptation of his earlier success
Sounder (2003), and enjoyed a
recurring role as Sam for many years on the series
Dotyk anioła (1994).Suffering from obesity and diabetes in later life, Paul Winfield passed
away from a heart attack at age 64 in 2004, and was survived by a
sister, Patricia. His longtime companion of 30 years, set designer and
architect Charles Gillan Jr. predeceased him by two years.show more
