Huh? Whuzzat?!

A frustrating thing about listening to NPR on the way into work is that invariably I’ll hear a tease of a story I want to hear that’s coming a bit later on, but I’ll already be at work and not get to hear it. Yeah, I can hear it on the Web when I get home, but sometimes I forget or it’s something really interesting or relates a bit of news I didn’t know about. This happened this morning when the announcer says, “Coming up later on Morning Edition, remembering actor Paul Winfield.”

Now, knowing as I do that “remembering” someone, in NPR parlance, usually means that they have died, I immediately wondered if Mr. Winfield had, in fact, passed on. Sadly, he did in fact die of a heart attack the other day.

I always liked his work, starting with the first time I saw him: as Captain Terrell, the poor Starfleet officer forced (along with Commander Chekov) to turn traitor in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Later I saw him in good roles in Presumed Innocent and other films, and he had a memorable supporting role in a major story arc on LA Law.

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