Paul Edward Winfield made his first screen appearance on an episode of ‘Perry Mason’ (1965), while he made his film debut in uncredited roles in ‘The Perils of Pauline,’ and ‘Who’s Minding the Mint?’ His first substantial film role was in the crime film ‘The Lost Man’ (1969).
After single-episode appearances several in TV series, Winfield got noticed for his prominent role in the sitcom ‘Julia’ (1969-1970). He portrayed the struggles of an African-American share-cropper during the Great Depression in the period drama film ‘Sounder’ (1972), earning an ‘Academy Award’ nomination.
This was followed by the crime thriller film ‘Trouble Man’ (1972), the action film ‘Gordon’s War’ (1973), the drama film ‘Conrack’ (1974), the musical film ‘Huckleberry Finn’ (1974), the action film ‘High Velocity’ (1976), and Muhammad Ali’s biopic, ‘The greatest,’ (1977). Winfield also starred in several TV films—‘The Horror at 37,000 Feet’ (1973), lead role in the sports film ‘It’s Good to be Alive’ (1974), and the war film ‘Green Eyes’ (1977).
Winfield portrayed ‘Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’ in the miniseries ‘King’ (1978) and ‘Dr. Huguley’ in the miniseries ‘Roots: The Next Generation’ (1979), fetching Emmy nominations for both. He also appeared in the miniseries ‘Backstairs at the White House’ (1974) and ‘Scarlett’ (1994) amongst others.
Winfield also appeared as ‘Capt. Terrell’ in sci-fi film ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ (1982), ‘police-officer Traxler’ in the sci-fi action film ‘The Terminator’ (1984), and ‘Lt. General Casey’ in sci-fi comedy ‘Mars Attacks’ (1996). He starred in neo-noir mystery-film ‘Mike’s Murder’ (1984), as a ‘Judge’ in legal-thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ (1990), action-thriller ‘Cliffhanger’ (1993), as ‘Chief of Police’ in family-comedy ‘Dennis the Menace’ (1993), and TV-movies ‘The Sophisticated Gents’ (1981), ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain’ (1984) and others.
Winfield played recurring roles in the fantasy sitcom ‘The Charmings’ (1987-1988) and ‘227’ (1988-1990). For his guest-appearance in the family drama TV series ‘Picket Fences’ (1995), he won the ‘Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor.’
Winfield’s has also worked in several other movies, including the air hijack film ‘Strategic Command’ (1997), the romantic-comedy ‘Relax….It’s Just Sex’ (1998), the comedy drama ‘Catfish in Black Bean Sauce’ (2000), ‘Knockout’ (2000), the drama film ‘Vegas, City of Dreams’ (2001) and his last film, a thriller, ‘Second to Die’ (2002), and the TV version of ‘Sounder’ (2003) in a different role. His final TV series was ‘Touched by an Angel’ (1995-2003).
Winfield also did a lot of work as a voice actor, including TV series ‘Gargoyles,’ ‘The Magic School Bus,’ ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Batman Beyond.’ He was a narrator in the documentary crime series ‘City Confidential’ (1999-2004).