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Born: 22 November 1904 Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Died: 22 October 1989 Englewood, New Jersey, USA. (stroke)

Real Name: Roland Winternitz

Roland Winters starred with Elvis in Blue Hawaii as his long suffering father Fred Gates. A year later he played the judge in Follow That Dream.

He was 19 when he played his first character role in the New York theatrical production The Firebrand.

In the 1930s, he entered radio, serving as an announcer and foil for such performers as Kate Smith and Kay Kyser. In 1947, Winters became the fifth actor to essay the role of aphorism-spouting Oriental detective Charlie Chan. While Winters' six low-budget Chan entries are generally disliked by movie buffs, it can now be seen that the genially hammy actor brought a much needed breath of fresh air to the flagging film series with his self-mocking, semi-satirical interpretation of Charlie.

A good friend of actor James Cagney, Winters showed up in several Cagney vehicles of the 1950s, notably A Lion Is in the Streets (1953) and Never Steal Anything Small (1959). Roland Winters continued to flourish in colorful supporting roles into the 1960s, and was also seen as a regular on the TV sitcoms Meet Millie (1952), The New Phil Silvers Show (1963), and The Smothers Brothers Show (1965).

Filmography

• Conflict of Interest, A (1982) (TV)
• You Can't Go Home Again (1979) (TV) .... Judge Bland
• "Dain Curse, The" (1978) (mini) TV Series .... Hubert Collinson ... aka "Dashiell Hammett's 'The Dain Curse'" (1978) (mini)
• Miracle on 34th Street (1973) (TV) .... Mr. Gimbel
• Loving (1970) .... Plommie
• "Green Acres" (1965) TV Series .... Mister Gerber (1969)
• "Smothers Brothers Show, The" (1965) TV Series .... Leonard J. Costello (1965-1966)
• Follow That Dream (1962) .... Judge
• Everything's Ducky (1961) .... Capt. Lewis Bollinger
• Blue Hawaii (1961) .... Fred Gates
• Iceman Cometh, The (1960) (TV) .... The General (Piet Wetjoen)
• Cash McCall (1960) .... General Andrew Danvers
• Never Steal Anything Small (1959) .... Doctor
• Little Women (1958) (TV)
• Jet Pilot (1957) .... Col. Sokolov
• Top Secret Affair (1957) .... Sen. Burdick ... aka Their Secret Affair (1957) (UK)
• Bigger Than Life (1956) .... Dr. Ruric
• Siege at Red River, The (1954) ... aka Gatling Gun (1954) (USA)
• So Big (1953) .... Klaas Pool
• Lion Is in the Streets, A (1953) (uncredited) .... Prosecutor
• "Door with No Name" (1951) TV Series .... John Randolph (1952) ... aka "Doorway to Danger" (1952) (new title)
• "Meet Millie" (1952) TV Series .... J.R. Boone Sr. (#2)
• She's Working Her Way Through College (1952) .... Fred Copeland
• "Mama" (1949) TV Series .... Uncle Chris (1951-1952) ... aka "I Remember Mama" (1949)
• Follow the Sun (1951) .... Dr. Graham
• Raton Pass (1951) .... Sheriff Perigord ... aka Canyon Pass (1951) (UK)
• Inside Straight (1951) .... Alexander Tomson
• Sierra Passage (1951) .... Sam Cooper
• West Point Story, The (1950) .... Harry Eberhart ... aka Fine and Dandy (1951) (UK)
• To Please a Lady (1950) .... Dwight Barrington ... aka Red Hot Wheels (1950)
• Between Midnight and Dawn (1950) .... Leo Cusick
• Convicted (1950) .... Vernon Bradley
• Underworld Story, The (1950) .... Stanley Becker, lawyer ... aka Whipped, The (1950) (preview title)
• Killer Shark (1950) .... Jeffrey White
• Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950) .... Manfredo Acuto ... aka After Midnight (1950) (UK)
• Guilty of Treason (1950) .... Soviet Comissar Belov ... aka Treason (1950) (UK)
• Malaya (1949) .... Bruno Gruber ... aka East of the Rising Sun (1949) (UK)
• Dangerous Profession, A (1949) .... Jerry McKay
• Once More, My Darling (1949) .... Colonel Head
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949) .... T. Hanley Brooks ... aka Abbot and Costello Meet the Killer (1949) ... aka Meet the Killer (1949)
• Sky Dragon, The (1949) .... Charlie Chan ... aka Charlie Chan and the Sky Dragon (1949) (USA)
• Tuna Clipper (1949) .... E.J. Ransom
Feathered Serpent, The (1948) .... Charlie Chan ... aka Charlie Chan and the Feathered Serpent (1948) (USA)
• Kidnapped (1948) .... Capt. Hoseason
• Return of October, The (1948) .... Colonel Wood ... aka Date with Destiny, A (1948) (UK)
• Cry of the City (1948) .... Ledbetter
• Golden Eye, The (1948) .... Charlie Chan ... aka Charlie Chan and the Golden Eye (1948) ... aka Mystery of the Golden Eye, The (1948)
• Shanghai Chest, The (1948) .... Charlie Chan
• Docks of New Orleans (1948) .... Charlie Chan ... aka Charlie Chan On the Docks of New Orleans (1948) (USA)
• Chinese Ring, The (1947) .... Charlie Chan
• 13 Rue Madeleine (1947) (uncredited) .... Van Duyval

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