Paul Winfield
Winfield in
The High Chaparral, 1969
Born: Paul Edward Winfield; May 22, 1939
Died: March 7, 2004 (aged 64); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.
Partner(s): Charles Gillan Jr. (19722002; Gillan's death)
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 (1972), which earned him an Academy Award nomination. He portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1978 television miniseries
King, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. Winfield was also known for his roles in
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,
The Terminator,
L.A. Law, and 24 episodes of the sitcom
227. He received five Emmy nominations overall, winning for his 1994 guest role in
Picket Fences.
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Personal life and death
Winfield was gay, but remained discreet about it in the public eye. Prior to realizing his sexuality, he had a relationship with his
Sounder co-star Cicely Tyson for 18 months. 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 together at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.