Roland Winters
Roland Winters
Roland Winters (born Roland Winternitz) was an American actor who played many character parts in films and television but today is best remembered for portraying Charlie Chan in six films in the late 1940s. Monogram Pictures eventually selected Winters to replace Sidney Toler in the Charlie Chan film series. Winters was 44 when he made the first of his six Chan films, The Chinese Ring in 1947 and ending with Charlie Chan and the Sky Dragon (also known as Sky Dragon) in 1949. His other Chan films were "Docks of New Orleans", "Shanghai Chest", "The Golden Eye" and "The Feathered Serpent". He also had character roles in three other feature films while he worked on the Chan series. Yunte Huang, in Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History, noted differences in the actors' appearances, especially that Winters' "tall nose simply could not be made to look Chinese." Huang also cited the actor's age, writing, "at the age of forty-four, he also looked too young to resemble a seasoned Chinese sage." In contrast to Huang, Ken Hanke wrote in his book, Charlie Chan at the Movies: History, Filmography, and Criticism, "Roland Winters has never received his due ... Winters brought with him a badly needed breath of fresh air to the series." He cited "the richness of the approach and the verve with which the series was being tackled" during the Winters era." Similarly, Howard M. Berlin, in his book, Charlie Chan's Words of Wisdom, commented that "Winters brought a much needed breath of fresh air to the flagging film series with his self-mocking, semi-satirical interpretation of Charlie, which is very close to the Charlie Chan in Biggers' novels." After the series finished, Winters continued to work in film and television until 1982. He was in the movies So Big and Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, played Elvis' father in Blue Hawaii and a judge in the Elvis film Follow That Dream. He made appearances as the boss on the early TV series Meet Millie as the boss and the courtroom drama Perry Mason. In one episode of the Bewitched TV series, he played the normally unseen McMann of McMann and Tate. He also portrayed Mr. Gimbel in Miracle on 34th Street in 1973.
Known For Acting
Most Rating 3.551
Birthday 1904-11-22
Place of Birth Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Also Known As Roland Winternitz,
Cry of the City
1948

Cry of the City

Bigger Than Life
1956

Bigger Than Life

The Underworld Story
1950

The Underworld Story

Convicted
1950

Convicted

Between Midnight and Dawn
1950

Between Midnight and Dawn

Malaya
1949

Malaya

Blue Hawaii
1961

Blue Hawaii

A Dangerous Profession
1949

A Dangerous Profession

So Big
1953

So Big

Docks of New Orleans
1948

Docks of New Orleans

The West Point Story
1950

The West Point Story

Jet Pilot
1957

Jet Pilot

The Chinese Ring
1947

The Chinese Ring

The Feathered Serpent
1948

The Feathered Serpent

Shanghai Chest
1948

Shanghai Chest

Sky Dragon
1949

Sky Dragon

The Golden Eye
1948

The Golden Eye

Top Secret Affair
1957

Top Secret Affair

She's Working Her Way Through College
1952

She's Working Her Way Through College

To Please a Lady
1950

To Please a Lady

The Return of October
1948

The Return of October

Once More, My Darling
1949

Once More, My Darling

Raton Pass
1951

Raton Pass

Never Steal Anything Small
1959

Never Steal Anything Small

Tuna Clipper
1949

Tuna Clipper

Follow the Sun
1951

Follow the Sun

Everything's Ducky
1961

Everything's Ducky

Miracle on 34th Street
1973

Miracle on 34th Street

Inside Straight
1951

Inside Straight

Killer Shark
1950

Killer Shark

Kidnapped
1948

Kidnapped

Guilty of Treason
1950

Guilty of Treason

Loving
1970

Loving

Cash McCall
1960

Cash McCall

Citizen Kane
1941

Citizen Kane

Sierra Passage
1950

Sierra Passage

Captain Carey, U.S.A.
1950

Captain Carey, U.S.A.

Follow That Dream
1962

Follow That Dream

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
1949

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff

Big Deal in Laredo
1962

Big Deal in Laredo

The Iceman Cometh
1960

The Iceman Cometh

Doc
1969

Doc

You Can't Go Home Again
1979

You Can't Go Home Again

A String of Beads
1961

A String of Beads