Michael Wincott

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title: "Michael Wincott" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1958-births", "20th-century-canadian-male-actors", "21st-century-canadian-male-actors", "living-people", "canadian-male-film-actors", "canadian-male-video-game-actors", "canadian-male-voice-actors", "canadian-male-stage-actors", "canadian-male-television-actors", "canadian-people-of-english-descent", "canadian-people-of-italian-descent", "juilliard-school-alumni", "male-actors-from-toronto"] description: "Canadian actor (born 1958)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Wincott" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian actor (born 1958) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Michael Wincott
birth_name	Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott
birth_date
birth_place	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
education	University of Toronto (BA)
Juilliard School (GrDip)
occupation	Actor
years_active	1976–present
family	Jeff Wincott (brother)
website
::

| name = Michael Wincott | birth_name = Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott | birth_date = | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | death_date = | death_place = | education = University of Toronto (BA) Juilliard School (GrDip) | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1976–present | family = Jeff Wincott (brother) | website = 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 Gisbourne in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991); Top Dollar, the main antagonist in The Crow (1994); music mogul Philo Gant in Strange Days (1995); mercenary Frank Elgyn in Alien Resurrection (1997); hacker Adrian Cross on the TV miniseries 24: Live Another Day (2014); and cinematographer Antlers Holst in Nope (2022). He has frequently worked with directors Oliver Stone and Julian Schnabel, and appeared in films by Ridley Scott, Terrence Malick, Michael Cimino and Jim Jarmusch.

Early life and education

Wincott was born in Toronto and grew up in an east-end suburb. His father is English while his mother was from Piacenza, Italy.

In a 2014 interview with L'Uomo Vogue, Wincott said he fell in love with cinema as a young child and took drama classes in high school. Wincott credited director Des McAnuff, as well as his father, with encouraging him to enroll at the prestigious acting school.

Career

In 1976, Wincott starred in his first film, titled Earthbound, as Cole Buckley, a troubled teenager living in a small Saskatchewan town. Kate Reid and Gerard Parkes played his parents in the film. The film aired on CBC-TV's Front Row Centre series in January 1977.

In 1979, Wincott starred in the Canadian adventure drama film Wild Horse Hank alongside Linda Blair.

After graduating from Juilliard, Wincott was cast in the 1987 film, The Sicilian in the role of Corporal Silvestro Canio. The following year Wincott appeared in Oliver Stone's film based on the play. In the 1980s he appeared on such American TV series as Miami Vice, Crime Story and The Equalizer, as well as Canadian police drama series Night Heat—a series starring his brother Jeff.

Wincott's stage performances include the off-Broadway productions Road (1988) starring Joan Cusack and Kevin Bacon, He appeared on Broadway starring in the play Serious Money (1988) alongside Kate Nelligan, Alec Baldwin and John Pankow, as well as appearing in The Secret Rapture (1989) starring Blair Brown.

Wincott again worked with Oliver Stone in 1989, appearing in the film Born on the Fourth of July as a bedridden Vietnam veteran, then yet again in 1991 in the film The Doors where he played the role of Paul Rothchild, the producer of The Doors' first five albums. In 1991, he played Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, a henchman of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) who is also the Sheriff's cousin in the film.

In 1993, he appeared in the film Romeo Is Bleeding as Sal, a mafioso, and also played the part of Rochefort in the Disney film The Three Musketeers starring Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen and Chris O'Donnell. The following year Wincott starred as kingpin Top Dollar opposite Brandon Lee in The Crow. In 1995, he appeared in Dead Man with Johnny Depp. He played poet Rene Ricard in the 1996 biographical film Basquiat. He also played the role of mercenary Frank Elgyn in the 1997 film Alien Resurrection.

Wincott starred as a psychopathic kidnapper opposite Morgan Freeman in the 2001 film Along Came a Spider. In 2004 he played Julius Bicke, the brother of Samuel J. Bicke (played by Sean Penn) in The Assassination of Richard Nixon.

In 2006, Wincott appeared in the western film Seraphim Falls starring Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson. He also appeared in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and What Just Happened in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

In 2009, he starred in A Lonely Place for Dying as CIA project manager Anthony Greenglass. In early 2012, he was cast as notorious serial killer Ed Gein in the biographical drama film Hitchcock.

In 2014, Wincott played hacker Adrian Cross in the miniseries 24: Live Another Day. The following year he starred in the Canadian western drama film Forsaken alongside Kiefer and Donald Sutherland. In 2016 he also played the role of Old Bill in two episodes in season 1 of the science fiction western TV series Westworld.

In 2017, he appeared in the MTG drama series Veni Vidi Vici. The Swedish series stars Danish actor Thomas Bo Larsen and centers around the porn industry. Wincott plays the part of Georgina, a transgender former porn director. The show was selected as one of the top new European series at the MIPDrama Screenings held annually in Cannes. The series was also streamed on Hulu in 2017. Wincott starred in Jordan Peele's 2022 thriller, Nope, as Antlers Holst, a cinematographer. In preparation for the role, Wincott shadowed the film's director of photography, Hoyte van Hoytema.

Wincott has also lent his voice to several characters in video games and animated features: In 2002 he provided the voice of Scroop, a malevolent spider/crab-like creature in the Disney animated film Treasure Planet; He also provided the voice of Mr. Big in the 2005 re-launch of the video game Narc. In 2012 he provided the voices for several video game characters: Jules Merit in the game Syndicate, Griffin in the interactive graphic novel Infex, and Death in the game Darksiders II.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Title Shot	Robber
1980	Nothing Personal	Peter
Wild Horse Hank	Charlie Connors
1981	Ticket to Heaven	Gerry
Circle of Two	Paul
1983	Curtains	Matthew
1987	The Sicilian	Cpl. Silvestro Canio
1988	Talk Radio	Kent/Michael/Joe
1989	Suffering Bastards	Chazz
Bloodhounds of Broadway	Soupy Mike
Born on the Fourth of July	Veteran
1991	The Doors	Paul A. Rothchild
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves	Guy of Gisbourne
1992	1492: Conquest of Paradise	Adrián de Moxica
1993	Romeo Is Bleeding	Sal
The Three Musketeers	Rochefort
1994	The Crow	Top Dollar
1995	Dead Man	Conway Twill
Strange Days	Philo Gant
Panther	Tynan
1996	Basquiat	Rene Ricard
Dead Girl	Mark in the Park
1997	Alien Resurrection	Captain Frank Elgyn
Metro	Michael Korda
1998	Gunshy	Frankie McGregor
1999	Hidden Agenda	Larry Gleason
2000	Before Night Falls	Herberto Zorilla Ochoa
2001	Along Came a Spider	Gary Soneji
2002	The Count of Monte Cristo	Armand Dorléac
Treasure Planet	Scroop	Voice
2004	The Assassination of Richard Nixon	Julius Bicke
2006	Seraphim Falls	Hayes
2007	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly	Fashion Photographer
2008	What Just Happened	Jeremy Brunell
2009	A Lonely Place for Dying	Anthony Greenglass
2012	Hitchcock	Ed Gein
2013	The Girl from Nagasaki	Goro
2014	Grand Street	Reuben
2015	Knight of Cups	Herb
Forsaken	Dave Turner
2017	Ghost in the Shell	Dr. Osmond	Uncredited
2022	Nope	Antlers Holst
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Earthbound	Cole Buckley	Television film directed by Mike Newell
1979	An American Christmas Carol	Choir Leader	Television film
The Family Man	Charlie	Television film
1979–81	The Littlest Hobo	Charlie, Jeff	2 episodes
1981	Clown White	Peter	Television film
1985	Night Heat	Jack Tenelli	Episode: "Mother's Day"
1987–88	Crime Story	Bobby Meeker	3 episodes
1987	The Equalizer	Jordan	Episode: "High Performance"
1989	The Equalizer	Jarrow	Episode: "The Caper"
1988	Miami Vice	Wilson Cook	Episode: "Blood & Roses"
1990	The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story	Ulrich Weber	Television film
1996	Strangers	Arnaud	Episode: "Leave"
2002	The Red Phone: Manhunt	Hans Peter Van Eyck	Television film
2014	24: Live Another Day	Adrian Cross	8 episodes
2016	Westworld	Old Bill	2 episodes
2017	Veni Vidi Vici	Georgina	Series for Viaplay (Scandinavia) and Hulu (Australia and United States)
::

Self

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	The Making of The Three Musketeers	Himself
2001	The Making of Along Came a Spider	Himself
2005	Me and Graham: The Soundtrack of Our Lives	Himself
2007	Behind the Scenes of Seraphim Falls	Himself
2014	Jack is Back	Himself	The 'Making of' documentary
2016	The Making of Forsaken	Himself
::

Short film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Sketches from Great Gull	Narrator	Voice
2011	The Iceman	Mr. Softee	Test scene for The Iceman (2012)
2011	The Farewell	He
::

Video shorts

• The Treasure Planet Read-Along DVD (2003) – Scroop (voice)

Thanks

• The Iceman (2012) – (special thanks)

Video games

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Treasure Planet	Scroop	Voice
2004	Halo 2	The Prophet of Truth	Voice
2005	Narc	Mr. Big	Voice
2012	Infex	Griffin	Voice
Syndicate	Jules Merit	Voice
Darksiders II	Death	Voice
::

Theatre

• 1987 – Talk Radio – Kent
• 1988 – Serious Money – Grevett, Frosby, Jake Todd
• 1988 – Road – Eddy, DJ, Skin Lad
• 1989 – The Secret Rapture – Irwin Posner
• 1991 – State of Shock – Stubbs

References

References

1. (2013). "The Oliver Stone Encyclopedia". Rowman & Littlefield.
2. Hischak, Thomas S.. (2011). "Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary". McFarland.
3. Morris, Anthony. (January 5, 2018). "Hollywood's Michael Wincott is Veni Vedi Vici's secret weapon". [[Special Broadcasting Service.
4. Keeling, Robert. (August 20, 2017). "Why I'll always love Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves". MetroUK.
5. . (July 3, 2013). ["Oh, That Guy: 15 Character Actor Villains You Love To Hate"](http://www.indiewire.com/2013/07/oh-that-guy-15-character-actor-villains-you-love-to-hate-96358/). *[[Penske Business Media]]*.
6. . (September 19, 2012). ["There's no doubt about it: Toronto-born Michael Wincott is best known to movie fans as the villain."](https://edmontonjournal.com/There+doubt+about+Toronto+born+Michael+Wincott+best+known+movie+fans+villain+Alan+Rickman+nasty+inept+cousin+Robin+Hood+Prince+Thieves+vicious+kingpin+Crow+devoted+killer+Along+Came+Spider+before+that+respected+York+stage+actor+Anyone/7268782/story.html). *[[Edmonton Journal]]*.
7. Travers, Peter. (November 12, 1993). "The Three Musketeers".
8. Schwarzbaum, Lisa. (April 13, 2001). "Along Came a Spider". [[Meredith Corporation]].
9. Sacks, Ethan. (June 10, 2014). "'24: Live Another Day' Hour Seven Recap: Jack Bauer kicks it into second gear in drone vs. car chase". [[Tronc]].
10. Meenan, Devin. (July 23, 2022). "Nope Star Michael Wincott Played A Cinematographer By Shadowing The Film's Actual Cinematographer". [[Static Media]].
11. Gabriel, Alice. (March 23, 1989). "Michael Wincott, 'Serious Actor'".
12. Croci, Roberto. (November 12, 2014). "Michael Wincott: An impeccable cinephile". Condé Nast.
13. Brown, Barry. (August 1, 1987). "Tidy Toronto Yields Gritty 'Night Heat'". Chicago Tribune.
14. Peterson, Maureen. (January 5, 1977). "Earthbound yo-yos from tragedy to comedy". Ottawa Journal.
15. (December 30, 1976). "Earthbound on Front Row". Richmond Review.
16. Irwin, Joan. (January 8, 1977). "'Bit of the Big Apple' series follows show to Broadway". Montreal Gazette.
17. Rich, Frank. (July 29, 1988). "Review/Theater; A 'Road' to Lives That Go Nowhere". The New York Times.
18. Rich, Frank. (February 25, 1988). "Critic's Notebook; Fixing the Blame for 'Serious Money'". The New York Times.
19. Johnson, Malcolm. (February 4, 1994). "Surreal 'Romeo Is Bleeding' Pulses With Evil, Dark Humor". Hartford Courant.
20. Nichols, Peter M.. (February 1, 2002). "The Count Of Monte Cristo". The New York Times.
21. Rehlin, Gunnar. (December 2, 2008). "Michael Wincott joins Swedish project - Rafael Edholm to direct untitled project".
22. Schager, Nick. (January 18, 2007). "Seraphim Falls".
23. Morris, Anthony. (February 15, 2013). "Interview With A Lonely Place for Dying Director Justin Eugene Evans". Huffington Post.
24. Hibberd, James. (November 19, 2013). "'24' return casts infamous hacker character". Meredith Corporation.
25. Leydon, Joe. (September 15, 2015). "Toronto Film Review: 'Forsaken".
26. Ro, Crystal. (October 5, 2016). "This is what Old Bill from "Westworld" looks like IRL, and FYI he's a veteran actor".
27. (March 27, 2005). "NARC; God of War; Heritage of Kings: The Settlers". The Washington Post.
28. Carter, James. (August 8, 2013). "Keith Arem Discusses His Interactive Graphic Novel "Infex"".

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