Born in Los Angeles; educated at University of Portland, Stanford, L.A. City College and UCLA. Stage-trained screen character player and lead, usually in empathetic dramatic roles or in action films. Raised in Watts, he established himself as a serious film actor in SOUNDER, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Later films saw him relegated to supporting, less complex roles. Active in TV since the 60s, appearing regularly on the comedy "Julia" and as Martin Luther King, Jr., in the miniseries "King." He won an Emmy® in 1995 for his portrayal of Judge Harold Nance on "Picket Fences" (1994). Other notable screen credits include CONRACK (1974), HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1974), TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING (1977), A HERO AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT A SANDWICH (1978), STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982), MIKE'S MURDER and THE TERMINATOR (both 1984), PRESUMED INNOCENT (1990), CLIFFHANGER and DENNIS THE MENACE (both 1993), MARS ATTACKS! (1996), and his last feature film, SECOND TO DIE (2002). 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 the death of his longtime partner, set designer and architect Charles Gillan Jr., in 2002.  Nominated for Actor 1972: SOUNDER 1 nomination