Paul Winfield : biography

Paul Edward Winfield (May 22, 1939 – March 7, 2004) was an American television, film and stage 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, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Winfield portrayed Captain Clark Terrell of the Starship Reliant in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and he also portrayed Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1978 television miniseries King, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Personal life and death

Winfield was openly gay in his private life, but remained discreet about it in the public eye. His partner of 30 years, architect Charles Gillan, Jr., died on March 5, 2002 of bone cancer.

Winfield long battled obesity and diabetes. He died of a heart attack in 2004 at age 64, at Queen of Angels–Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles. Winfield and Gillan are interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

He was also the cousin of distinguished actor William Marshall who played the lead role in the classic 1972 Blaxploitation horror filmAllmusic Blacula.Memory Alpha

Early years

Winfield was born in Los Angeles, California to Lois Beatrice Edwards, a union organizer in the garment industry. His stepfather from the age of eight was Clarence Winfield, a city trash collector and construction worker. He attended Manual Arts High School, the University of Portland, Stanford University, Los Angeles City College and the University of California at Los Angeles.

Selected filmography