Jeffrey Wincott (born 8 May 1956) is a Canadian

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

best known for his lead role in the television series ''

Night Heat ''Night Heat'' is a Canadian police crime drama series that aired on both CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States. Original episodes were broadcast from 1985 to 1989. ''Night Heat'' was the first Canadian original drama series that was also ...

.'' Wincott was also the star of several

martial arts films Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

in the 1990s. In 1996 he was named one of the "Martial Arts Movie Stars of the Next Century" by ''

Black Belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...

'' magazine.

Early life and education

Wincott was born and raised in Toronto. His mother was from

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

, Italy. His English father was an amateur boxer. Actor

Michael Wincott Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott (born January 21, 1958) is a Canadian actor. His deep, raspy voice has often led to his being cast in villainous roles. Some of his best-known roles include Guy of Gisborne in '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' ( ...

is his younger brother. Wincott began studying taekwondo at 15 and also swam competitively. Wincott became interested in acting while in high school and wound up turning down a swimming scholarship to study acting at

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

, where he studied for 2 years.

Career

One of Wincott's first acting jobs was in 1979 when he appeared on two episodes of the Canadian sitcom ''

King of Kensington ''King of Kensington'' is a Canadian television sitcom which aired on CBC Television from 1975 to 1980.Mary Jane Miller, ''Turn Up the Contrast: CBC Television Drama since 1952''. UBC Press, 2011. . pp. 134-144. Synopsis Al Waxman starred as Larr ...

''. He also appeared in an episode of the Canadian series ''

The Littlest Hobo ''The Littlest Hobo'' is a Canadian television series (French title: ''Le Vagabond'') based upon a 1958 well-known film of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for ...

''. that same year. In 1980 he toured with the Toronto-based

Actors Touring Company Actors Touring Company (ATC) is a touring theatre company based in London, founded in 1978 by Artistic Director John Retallack. Previous Artistic Directors have included Mark Brickman, Ceri Sherlock, Nick Philippou, Gordon Anderson, Bijan Sheibani ...

in their production of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', followed by the

Runnymede Theatre The Runnymede Theatre is a historic building located in Bloor West Village, an affluent west end Toronto neighbourhood. The building has operated as a vaudeville theatre, a movie theatre, a bingo hall, and a Chapters (bookstore), Chapters booksto ...

production '' Play it Again, Sam'' in which Wincott played the role of

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

. That same year he also had a small role in the horror movie '' Prom Night'', and the following year he had a small role in the film ''

Quest for Fire ''Quest for Fire'' may refer to: * '' The Quest for Fire'', a 1911 novel by J. H. Rosny * ''Quest for Fire'' (film), a 1981 film adaptation of the 1911 novel * "Quest for Fire", a song by Iron Maiden from 1983's ''Piece of Mind ''Piece of Min ...

''. Wincott appeared in an episode of the Canadian drama series ''

The Great Detective ''The Great Detective'' is a Television in Canada, Canadian television drama, which aired on CBC Television, CBC from 1979 to 1982. It starred Douglas Campbell (actor), Douglas Campbell and James Dugan. Background ''The Great Detective'' was i ...

'' in 1982. In 1981 and 1983 he appeared again in episodes of ''The Littlest Hobo''. He also appeared in episodes of the Canadian TV series ''

Hangin' In ''Hangin' In'' was a Canadian television sitcom which aired on CBC from 1981 to 1987. It aired briefly on Nickelodeon and in syndication in the United States. Synopsis The show starred Lally Cadeau as Kate Brown, the attractive and charismati ...

'' in 1983 and 1984. From 1981 to 1983 Wincott lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he studied privately with

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

teacher Michael Kahn, before moving on to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to film a beer commercial for

Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Can ...

. While in L.A. he taught

breakdancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

and would also perform

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

Venice Beach Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

for money. In 1984 Wincott returned to Toronto and began working on the Canadian police drama series ''

''. The series starred

Scott Hylands Scott Hylands Douglas (born 1943) is a Canadian actor who has appeared in movies, on television, and on the stage. Because of his longevity and versatility, critics have called him "one of Canada's greatest actors." Early years Hylands was born ...

as Detective Kevin O'Brien and Wincott as his partner, the brash and impulsive Detective Frank Giambone. The series ran for four seasons from 1985 to 1989 and also aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

, making it the first Canadian-produced drama series to air on an American network. In 1986 he also appeared in the Canadian drama film '' The Boy in Blue'' starring

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...

. In the 1990s Wincott was the star of several action films, often making use of his martial arts skills. Some of these films include '' Martial Law 2: Undercover'' (1991), "Mission of Justice" opposite

Brigitte Nielsen Brigitte Nielsen (; born Gitte Nielsen; 15 July 1963) is a Danish actress, model, and singer. She began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She subsequently acted in the 1985 films ''Red Sonja'' and ''Rocky IV'', later retu ...

(1992), ''Deadly Bet'' (1992), ''

Martial Outlaw ''Martial Outlaw'' is a 1993 action/martial arts film written by Thomas Ritz, produced by Pierre David, directed by Kurt Anderson and stars Jeff Wincott, Gary Hudson and Richard Jaeckel in his final film appearance before his death in June 1997 ...

'' (1993), ''The Killing Machine'' (1994), ''Street Law'' (1995), ''Last Man Standing'' (1995), ''The Donor'' (1995), ''

No Exit ''No Exit'' (french: Huis clos, links=no, ) is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play was first performed at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in May 1944. The play begins with three characters who find themselves waiting ...

'' (1995), ''When the Bullet Hits the Bone'' (1996), and ''Future Fear'' (1997). In 2003 Wincott appeared in two episodes of the second season of TV series '' 24''. He played the recurring role of James 'Jimmy' Cacuzza on the

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

series ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...

'', appearing in episodes that aired in 2008, 2012 and 2013. In 2012 Wincott played Captain Mancuso in an episode in the third season of the TV series '' Blue Bloods'', and reprised the role in the series fifth season. He also played recurring character Marshal Hilliard in the miniseries ''

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles ''The Lizzie Borden Chronicles'' is an American television limited series following Lizzie Borden after she is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother in 1892. It premiered on Lifetime on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015, and ended on ...

'' (2015) and Detective Lucas in the miniseries ''

The Night Of ''The Night Of'' is a 2016 American eight-part crime drama television miniseries based on the first season of ''Criminal Justice'', a 2008 British series. The miniseries was written by Richard Price and Steven Zaillian (based on the original ''C ...

'' (2016). He was featured in the action films '' The Invasion'' (2007) and ''

Unstoppable Unstoppable may refer to: Film and television * ''Unstoppable'' (2004 film), an American film directed by David Carson * '' Unstoppable: Conversation with Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis'', a 2005 American television documentar ...

'' (2010) and played a supporting role in the independent film ''Kringle Time''. In 2019, Jeff and his wife Charlotte founded Hollow Metropolis Films in order to create and produce their own work. In 2020, the Wincotts co-produced their first feature film, ''The Issue with Elvis''. Directed by Charlotte, the film stars Jeff, as well as their son Wolfgang. Wincott won the Best Actor award for his role in the film at the Toronto Beaches Film Festival, and the Montgomery International Film Festival. The Wincotts also co-produced ''Fall Fight Shine'', a documentary about addiction and recovery featuring Jeff's own recovery story. The film premiered in 2021.

Film

Short Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Theatre Work

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wincott, Jeff 1956 births Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian people of English descent Canadian people of Italian descent People from Scarborough, Toronto Male actors from Toronto Canadian male taekwondo practitioners