Jeff Wincott

Jeff Wincott (born May 8, 1956) is a television and film actor. He is the older brother of actor Michael Wincott.

Acting career

Wincott began his career on the stages of Toronto, first playing Mark Smeaton in Anne of the Thousand Days. Next as Bogie in Play It Again, Sam, Wincott showed early on in his acting career that he was committed to any character he played. He started smoking non-filtered cigarettes that he ordered from New York, the same brand Humphrey Bogart smoked. S.E. Kure from the Bloor West Villager, a Toronto newspaper, wrote "A positive step by director Stephen Bragg was in the casting of Bogie. Jeff Wincott never failed a delighted audience with his impersonation. He had every gesture down pat; the slurred voice well-mimicked and the facial expressions twinning that of the famous actor. The dialogue however did not allow Wincott much interplay with the other actors. Isolated as a Humphrey Bogart impersonator, he was superb". He then portrayed the jolly northern Englishman Albert Godby in Still Life and the Irish conductor Bert Bentley in Red Peppers. Wincott spent a couple months doing summer stock at The Kawartha Summer Theatre. Also, touring with an acting company as the short-tempered Tybalt in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Next, Jeff landed the part of the gay stud, Wolf, in the Canadian Stage Premiere of Martin Sherman's play Bent.

Wincott's first TV role was on the sitcom King of Kensington (1978-1979) with Al Waxman as the rebel Jeff. His first feature film lines were with Madeline Kahn as the taxi driver in Happy Birthday Gemini (1980). Director Paul Lynch cast him in the horror film classic Prom Night (1980) as the jock Drew with Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen. He played Nicolas Cage's sculling opponent Riley, in the film The Boy in Blue (1986) Jeff had never sculled before and only trained for 3 days before filming began. Wincott's big break came as the Italian, hot-headed rookie, Detective Frank Giambone, in the TV series Night Heat (1984-1989) with Scott Hylands, Alan Royal and producer Sonny Grosso, whose real life story was depicted in the film The French Connection. Some of the guest stars on Night Heat included Danny Aiello, Héctor Elizondo, David Carradine, Phyllis Diller among others. Night Heat was nominated 22 times including Primetime Gemini Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Wincott. Night Heat won the Gemini Award seven times including Best Dramatic Series in 1986 and 1987. Jeff guest starred with Andy Griffith in the two hour season premiere of the TV series Matlock (1992) as Spencer Hamilton, who investigates the death of his brother.

When he auditioned for the film Martial Law 2 (1994), Wincott, a black belt in Taekwondo, was asked by the producer Pierre David, if he was a good fighter. Wincott's response, "I can stand you, and you, and you up and knock all three of you down". He was given the role on the spot. Wincott garnered rave reviews for his performance in the film. This paved the road for Wincott to become sought after not only as a martial artist, but one who could act. Wincott went on to star as the lead protagonist in martial arts and action films Deadly Bet (1992) and Mission of Justice (1992). On Wincott's notable fight scene in Mission of Justice, referred to as "the gauntlet", in which he fights 40 guys, he recalls, "They wanted me to do cali-stick fighting and I told them I had never been trained with them, so they spent 45 minutes teaching me for that big scene". For the film Martial Outlaw (1993), he trained a grueling three months twice a day in the gym, eating no sugar, no dairy products, no fruit or juices, or bread, shredding his body down to 8% body fat. Following, Wincott starred in Open Fire in 1994. Next, he portrayed the cold-blooded killer, and hit-man for hire, Harlin Garrett, in the film The Killing Machine (1994). Of his role as Harlin Garrett, Liz Braun from the Toronto Sun wrote, "Jeff Wincott manages to rise above the material." He next starred in No Exit (1995), and for his role in Street Law (1995), he spent 18 hours the night before filming initiated, having hair extensions put in to achieve the right look for his John Ryan character, who is a pro-bono attorney and rides a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Then Wincott starred in the thriller The Donor (1995) as Billy Castle, who has his kidney taken out and sold on the black market without his consent. In the action film Last Man Standing (1995) he played a detective who finds himself caught between an organized crime gang and a ring of crooked cops. He starred with Michelle Johnson as the alcoholic Dr. Jack Davis in the film When the Bullet Hits the Bone (1996). Wincott also starred with Lance Henriksen as the murderous district attorney Michael Weinberg, in the film Profile For Murder (1996).

Wincott portrayed the genetically engineered Eric Devereaux in the made for TV movies Universal Soldier II (1998) and III (1999). In the second film, he wanted to do his own stunt for his death scene, in which two metal plates(one behind and one in front) are squibbed. When they went off, the plates squeezed his chest and he lost his breath. The impact knocked Wincott unconscious and he fell to the ground, the camera's were still rolling thinking this was a brilliant performance, then, not realizing he wasn't acting the director yelled cut and came to his aid. He starred with Adrien Brody in the romantic comedy film The Undertaker's Wedding (1997), where he played Italian Mafia hit man Rocco, who fakes his own death. He guest starred in the Vancouver based crime TV series Cold Squad (1999), giving a chilling performance as the sadistic serial killer, Thomas Brown. Wincott followed up with another role as psychotic killer who takes a family hostage in the film Pressure Point (2001) with Michael Madsen.

Director Clark Johnson featured him in the film S.W.A.T. (2003) with Samuel Jackson and Colin Farrell, playing SWAT sniper Ed Taylor. Wincott guest starred on the TV series JAG (2003), 24 (2003) with Kiefer Sutherland and NCIS (2005) with Mark Harmon. He played the ruthless drug leader Leo, in the independent film Lake City (2006) with Sissy Spacek and Drea de Matteo. Then appeared in the film The Invasion (2007), starring Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. Wincott had a cameo in the final episode of the TV series The Wire (2007) playing undercover officer Johnny Weaver. Director Tony Scott (Top Gun True Romance) featured him in the film Unstoppable (2009) with Denzel Washington to play Chris Pine's older brother, Jesse. He guest starred with Jim Caviezel as the corrupt Lieutenant Gilmore on the TV show Person of Interest (2011). Griffin Dunne directed him, in The Good Wife (2012) with Julianna Margulies.

In 2008, Wincott began recurring as Jimmy Cacuzza, leader of the Cacuzza crime family who buys guns from SAMCRO on the TV series Sons Of Anarchy (Seasons 1, 5 and 6). He was hired by Rockstar Games as the voice actor and motion capture artist Casey in the video game Grand Theft Auto V (2013). Director Dan Pritzker cast him to play real life Chicago mobster Johnny Collins, Louis Armstrong's music manager, in the soon to be released film Bolden!. Wincott has a recurring role as Detective Lucas in the new upcoming Scott Ferguson (emmy for Normal Heart) and Steven Zaillian (academy award for Schindler's List) HBO miniseries Crime starring John Turturro. He is also recurring as ESU Captain Mancuso on Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck. Wincott is presently appearing in the miniseries The Lizzie Borden Chronicles as Marshal Hilliard , starring Christina Ricci and Clea DuVall on Lifetime.

Directing

In 2014 Jeff Wincott made his directorial debut with the short film Behind Bars.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Video Games

Theatre Work

References

External links

• Official site
• Jeff Wincott at the Internet Movie Database