Roland Winters
Roland Winters (born Roland Winternitz) was an American actor who played many character parts in films and television but today is best remembered for portraying Charlie Chan in six films in the late 1940s.
Monogram Pictures eventually selected Winters to replace Sidney Toler in the Charlie Chan film series. Winters was 44 when he made the first of his six Chan films, The Chinese Ring in 1947 and ending with Charlie Chan and the Sky Dragon (also known as Sky Dragon) in 1949. His other Chan films were "Docks of New Orleans", "Shanghai Chest", "The Golden Eye" and "The Feathered Serpent". He also had character roles in three other feature films while he worked on the Chan series.
Yunte Huang, in Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History, noted differences in the actors' appearances, especially that Winters' "tall nose simply could not be made to look Chinese." Huang also cited the actor's age, writing, "at the age of forty-four, he also looked too young to resemble a seasoned Chinese sage."
In contrast to Huang, Ken Hanke wrote in his book, Charlie Chan at the Movies: History, Filmography, and Criticism, "Roland Winters has never received his due ... Winters brought with him a badly needed breath of fresh air to the series." He cited "the richness of the approach and the verve with which the series was being tackled" during the Winters era." Similarly, Howard M. Berlin, in his book, Charlie Chan's Words of Wisdom, commented that "Winters brought a much needed breath of fresh air to the flagging film series with his self-mocking, semi-satirical interpretation of Charlie, which is very close to the Charlie Chan in Biggers' novels."
After the series finished, Winters continued to work in film and television until 1982. He was in the movies So Big and Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, played Elvis' father in Blue Hawaii and a judge in the Elvis film Follow That Dream. He made appearances as the boss on the early TV series Meet Millie as the boss and the courtroom drama Perry Mason. In one episode of the Bewitched TV series, he played the normally unseen McMann of McMann and Tate. He also portrayed Mr. Gimbel in Miracle on 34th Street in 1973.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 1.2296 |
| Birthday | 1904-11-22 |
| Place of Birth | Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Also Known As | Roland Winternitz, |
1948
Cry of the City
6.7/75
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his clien...
Watch Now
Cry of the City
1956
Bigger Than Life
7.2/188
A friendly, successful suburban teacher and father grows dangerously addicted to cortisone, resulting in his transformation into a household despot.
Watch Now
Bigger Than Life
1950
The Underworld Story
6.3/29
A blacklisted reporter brings his shady ways to a small-town newspaper after being fired from a big city daily.
Watch Now
The Underworld Story
1950
Convicted
6.167/33
A prison warden fights to prove one of his inmates was wrongly convicted.
Watch Now
Convicted
1950
Between Midnight and Dawn
5.7/30
Rocky and Dan, war buddies, are prowl car cops on night duty. Dan is a cynic who views all lawbreakers as scum; Rocky feels more lenient. Both are att...
Watch Now
Between Midnight and Dawn
1949
Malaya
6.9/17
Soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, cynical former newspaper correspondent John Royer devises a scheme with his old editor and government...
Watch Now
Malaya
1961
Blue Hawaii
6.06/158
Just discharged GI Chad Gates returns to Hawaii, where he becomes a tour guide, defying his mother's wishes for him to join the family business.
Watch Now
Blue Hawaii
1949
A Dangerous Profession
5.7/16
A cop-turned-bail bondsman gets involved in a murder investigation involving a former flame.
Watch Now
A Dangerous Profession
1948
Docks of New Orleans
6.1/7
Detective Charlie Chan springs into action when top officials of a New Orleans chemical company begin dropping like flies.
Watch Now
Docks of New Orleans
1953
So Big
5.462/13
A girl of wealth comes to a Dutch community outside Chicago as a schoolteacher, and while there falls in love with a poor but big-hearted farmer.
Watch Now
So Big
1950
The West Point Story
5.773/11
A Broadway director helps the West Point cadets put on a show, aided by two lovely ladies and assorted complications.
Watch Now
The West Point Story
1947
The Chinese Ring
5.211/19
Soon after a Chinese princess comes to the US to buy planes for her people, she is murdered by a poison dart fired by an air rifle.
Watch Now
The Chinese Ring
1957
Jet Pilot
5.5/50
U.S. Air Force aviator Jim Shannon is tasked with escorting a Soviet pilot claiming -- at the height of the Cold War -- that she wants to defect. Afte...
Watch Now
Jet Pilot
1948
The Feathered Serpent
6.077/13
In order to learn the location of a fabled Aztec treasure, a professor kidnaps his colleague, the only man able to read the ancient Aztec script that...
Watch Now
The Feathered Serpent
1948
The Shanghai Chest
6.583/6
Charlie attempts to solve a triple murder in which a dead man's finger prints show up at all three murder sites, and all three victims were connected...
Watch Now
The Shanghai Chest
1949
Sky Dragon
8/4
All the passengers on an airplane headed for San Francisco are drugged, and when they wake up, it is discovered that a quarter-million dollars is miss...
Watch Now
Sky Dragon
1948
The Golden Eye
5.567/15
A gold mine in Arizona, that was formerly losing a lot of money, suddenly turns into a veritable money-making machine. However, the owner, instead of...
Watch Now
The Golden Eye
1950
Killer Shark
6.4/5
A college student takes a break and goes out to sea with his father, the captain of a shark-hunting boat. When his inexperience results in an accident...
Watch Now
Killer Shark
1979
You Can't Go Home Again
3/3
An adaptation of Thomas Wolfe's literary classic, telling of the struggles of a young writer determined to be a success in New York's literary world o...
Watch Now
You Can't Go Home Again
1957
Top Secret Affair
4.9/7
A publisher uses her magazine and charm to derail a general on the Washington fast track.
Watch Now
Top Secret Affair
1952
She's Working Her Way Through College
5.375/8
Shapely burlesque dancer Hot Garters Gertie aka Angela Gardner meets her future drama professor. Her new landlady proves to be the professor's wife. A...
Watch Now
She's Working Her Way Through College
1950
To Please a Lady
6.5/14
Mike Brannon is a former war hero turned midget car racer. His ruthless racing tactics have made him successful but the fans consider him a villain an...
Watch Now
To Please a Lady
1948
The Return of October
6.4/7
A wholesome girl believes her new racehorse, October, is the reincarnation of her favorite uncle, Willie.
Watch Now
The Return of October
1949
Once More, My Darling
6.5/4
An actor is recalled to active duty with the Army's C.I.D. to find the thief who stole historical jewels in occupied Germany and the trail leads to th...
Watch Now
Once More, My Darling
1951
Raton Pass
4.9/13
Raton Pass is a curious western based on the rules of Community Property. Dennis Morgan and Patricia Neal portray a recently married husband and wife,...
Watch Now
Raton Pass
1959
Never Steal Anything Small
8.2/5
Director Charles Lederer's 1959 musical stars James Cagney as an unscrupulous longshoreman who'll resort to every dirty trick in the book to win his u...
Watch Now
Never Steal Anything Small
1949
Tuna Clipper
7.75/2
Hoping to become a lawyer, Alec (Roddy McDowall) becomes a tuna fisherman in order to pay a debt. This turn of events puts Alec on the outs with his t...
Watch Now
Tuna Clipper
1951
Follow the Sun
6.25/8
A biographical film of Ben Hogan, from his start as a golf caddy to being considered one of golf's greatest players.
Watch Now
Follow the Sun
1961
Everything's Ducky
6.5/4
Everything's Ducky is a 1961 film directed by Don Taylor and starring Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, and Jackie Cooper. Two sailors sneak a talking du...
Watch Now
Everything's Ducky
1961
A String of Beads
8/1
An ordinary girl's life is radically changed by the mistaken receipt of a $60,000 strand of pearls.
Watch Now
A String of Beads
1973
Miracle on 34th Street
7/13
A department store Santa tries to convince a little girl who doesn't believe in Santa Claus that he is Santa Claus, and winds up going on trial to pro...
Watch Now
Miracle on 34th Street
1951
Inside Straight
4.875/4
A tycoon rises to the top in 19th-century San Francisco through greed and corruption.
Watch Now
Inside Straight
1948
Kidnapped
6.667/3
In Scotland in 1752, seventeen-year-old David Balfour is cheated out of his birthright by his evil uncle Ebenezer.
Watch Now
Kidnapped
1950
Guilty of Treason
6.333/6
The story of Cardinal Josef Mindzhenty, a Roman Catholic cardinal from Hungary who spoke out against both the Nazi occupation of his country during Wo...
Watch Now
Guilty of Treason
1970
Loving
6/19
Brooks Wilson is in crisis. He is torn between his wife Selma and two daughters and his mistress Grace, and also between his career as a successful il...
Watch Now
Loving
1960
Cash McCall
6.333/15
Wealthy hotshot Cash McCall makes his money by purchasing unsuccessful businesses, whipping them into shape and then selling them for a huge profit. W...
Watch Now
Cash McCall
1941
Citizen Kane
7.966/6218
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, ty...
Watch Now
Citizen Kane
1950
Sierra Passage
7.5/2
When young Johnny York witnesses the murder of his father, he joins a travelling variety troupe and trains up as a sharpshooter so he might one day ge...
Watch Now
Sierra Passage
1960
The Computer Comes to Marketing
0/0
Five executives at a company argue about whether they should buy a computer and what it would do for their company.
Watch Now
The Computer Comes to Marketing
1950
Captain Carey, U.S.A.
5.8/18
Near the end of World War II, a secret American raid on an enemy transportation hub goes very wrong when a turncoat warns the enemy. Led by Capt. Webs...
Watch Now
Captain Carey, U.S.A.
1962
Follow That Dream
6.115/48
When the Kwimper family car runs out of fuel on a new Florida highway and an officious state supervisor tries to run them off, Pop digs in his heels a...
Watch Now
Follow That Dream
1949
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
6.592/60
Lost Caverns Resort Hotel bellhop Freddie Phillips gives an empty threat to one attorney Amos Strickland, and is shortly fired. When Freddie visits hi...
Watch Now
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
1962
Big Deal in Laredo
0/0
A timid man with money problems gets into a big card game with some high-rollers.
Watch Now
Big Deal in Laredo
1969
Doc
8/1
An aging doctor in a small town decides to pack up his little black bag, but when a young doctor assumes his practice, the older practitioner can't re...
Watch Now
Doc
1964
Archie
0/0
Archie is the 1964 unsold pilot based on the Archie comic book series. The whole gang is included, Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Reggie, Mr. Weath...
Watch Now