Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 579-581. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.
Bred and showed black pug dogs for several decades until his diabetes forced him to stop.
Cousin of actor William Marshall, also known as Blacula (1972).
Gifted at playing the violin and cello, he was given a scholarship to Yale on these merits but turned the scholarship down.
He received the NAACP Image Award for Best Actor and has been inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
He won an Emmy in 1995 for his portrayal of Judge Harold Nance on "Picket Fences" (1992) (shown on October 7 & 14, 1994).
His "Sounder" on-screen leading lady, Cicely Tyson, also became his off-screen paramour. The two lived together for 18 months.
His companion of 30 years, set designer and architect Charles Gillan Jr., has died of a rare bone disease in Los Angeles, California. [5 March 2002]
His mother, Lois Beatrice, was a union organizer in the garment industry; his stepfather, Clarence, was a construction worker.
In August 2000 Winfield appeared with John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra at Tanglewood on Parade, as narrator of "The Unfinished Journey.".
Survived by cousins Tariq Marshall, Gina Loring, and Claude Marshall.
The son of a union organizer and a construction worker.
There were originally more scenes of his character, Lt. Traxler, in The Terminator (1984) that were cut to keep the film's pace moving but are now available on the special edition DVD from MGM. There were scenes that showed him and his partner in crime, played by Lance Henriksen, taking part in the chase sequence that ensues after the Tech Noir shoot out. The last two scenes took place in the police station that revealed that Traxler believed Reese, played by Michael Biehn, to be telling the truth--one taking place after the questioning of Reese and one where Reese and Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton are about to escape from the police station during the Terminator's, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger_ siege where Traxler gave Reese his gun and car keys.
Was a dog breeder in California. Bred pugs at his home.
Was first impacted by the film Home of the Brave (1949), which starred African-American actor James Edwards in a leading role, not a typical supporting role as a servant.
While at a dog show in Denver in the late 1990s, Winfield fell into a diabetic coma and required three weeks of hospitalization.
Winfield did not play an active role in the gay rights movement. His good friend actor-producer Jack Larson (Superman's "Jimmy Olsen") described him as "openly gay in his life if not in the media." Like many actors of his generation he concealed his homosexuality for fear of losing employment. Larson stated that Winfield had been distraught in his final years due to his longtime partner's death in 2002.
Winfield has been honored by Cord, the Black Publishers of America, the National Association of Media Women, the California Federation of Black Leadership, and Black Child Development Institution of Washington, D.C.