Widely respected among peers for his fearless commitment, Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott was born to an English father and Italian mother in Scarborough, a working class suburb of Toronto. His career began fortuitously in 1976 at the CBC, cast by Deidre Bowen, Clare Walker and director Mike Newell as the troubled protagonist, Cole Buckley, opposite Kate Reid in writer Rochelle Kosar's Earthbound. He continued his novitiate in the city's leading contemporary theaters, working with Ken Gass at Factory Theatre Lab, Bill Glassco at The Tarragon Theatre and William Lane at Toronto Free Theatre. Supported by grants from The Ontario Arts Council and The Canada Council of The Arts, he moved to New York City to study on a full scholarship at The Juilliard School where he performed, among other roles, Teddy in Mark Medoff's When You Comin' Back Red Ryder?, Flute in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Soranzo in John Ford's T'is Pity She's A Whore and Tilden in the school's much-lauded first production of a Sam Shepard play, Buried Child. In the spring following graduation, he began a rewarding relationship with Joseph Papp's Public Theater both on and off Broadway with his creation of the role of Kent in Eric Bogosian's Talk Radio. He last appeared onstage in New York opposite John Malkovich, originating the role of Stubbs in Shepard's States of Shock. He has worked with some of cinema's most gifted reprobates, including Anthony Hopkins, Gary Oldman, Julian Schnabel, Gerard Depardieu, Jim Jarmusch, Ridley Scott, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Dennis Hopper, Michael Cimino, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, John Hurt, Javier Bardem, Benicio Del Toro, Terence Malick and Oliver Stone. Among those he hasn't, he has expressed a wish to work with the great French actress, Isabelle Huppert. "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion" Albert Camus
The Juilliard School (Drama Division), 1982-1986 (graduated).
Younger brother of 杰夫·温科特.
He plays a multitude of instruments including drums, harmonica, guitar and piano.
Of English and Italian descent.
His favorite musician is Keith Richards.
He played drums in jazz band as a kid.
He is known for his apathetic stance on celebrity and the ideals of Hollywood, often stating that he holds art in higher regard than money.
Has appeared in two films based on Alexandre Dumas' works: 豪情三剑客 (1993) and 新基督山伯爵 (2002).
He's the youngest of three brothers.
In 2006 he was going to star in the movie adaptation of 埃文·威尔什's "Ecstasy" together with 休·丹西, 比利·博伊德, Scott Cleverdon, 理查德 and 莎拉·卡特, under the direction of Robert Heydon. The film was shot 4 years later with a different cast, except for 比利·博伊德.
Turned down a recurring role in Lost (2004).
He was asked to audition for a role in 蝙蝠侠：黑暗骑士崛起 (2012) but declined. 本·门德尔森 was cast.
He was offered the role of Mr. Dearden in 超脱 (2011) but declined. 布莱恩·科兰斯顿 got the part.
In the late 90s he was to star in "Cousin Joey" together with 米基·洛克 and 杰伊·戴维森. The film, written and to be directed by Sante D'Orazio (who had impressed with his documentary, Sammy) concerned two cousins, one an ex con named Joey (Wincott) who aspires to become a major player in the New York underworld and the other, Mikey Bear, just released from prison (Rourke). The latter agrees to work as a loan shark to acquire enough money to leave Brooklyn with Joey and make a new start. Their boss (Landau), angered by this decision, orders him killed. When Joey discovers this, the pair flee, pursued by the Mob. Rourke contributed to the script and developed a lot of aspects to the original one which the producers had in mind; he was aiming for a more dialogue oriented approach, while the producers wanted more action. Consequently, the project lost several producers and failed to secure new financing. At this point Wincott left while Rourke rapidly tried to find a co-star, eventually moving on to other projects.
In 2011 he appeared in a test scene for a movie project about American multiple murderer Richard Kuklinski. In the short, directed by 阿里尔·弗罗门, he played Robert "Mr. Softee" Pronge while 迈克尔·珊农 impersonated Kuklinski. The movie, called 冰人 (2012), entered production at the end of the same year; Shannon kept his role while 克里斯·埃文斯 was chosen to play Pronge because Vromen wanted someone younger for that part. The director offered Wincott another role, but the actor wasn't happy with it and amicably refused. Wincott was thanked in the end credits.
Was considered for the role of Willie O'Keefe in 刺杀肯尼迪 (1991). The role went to 凯文·贝肯.
In 2010 he agreed to star in the western/comedy short film "Days Like These", which was to be directed by Justin Eugene Evans, with whom he had recently worked on A Lonely Place for Dying (2009) . The plot was about a poker hustler who found himself trapped between an angry mark looking for revenge, the Union Army of Colorado and the Confederate Army of Texas. The project never entered the production stage, even though it was said to have the humor of 夺宝奇兵 (1981), the visual panache of a 吴宇森 action film and the snappy dialogue of an 艾伦·索金 screenplay.
保罗·施拉德 approached him to play the part of boss Grecco The Greek in 狗咬狗 (2016). Scharder also considered 迈克尔·道格拉斯, 昆汀·塔伦蒂诺, 马丁·斯科塞斯, 尼克·诺特, 克里斯托弗·沃肯, 杰夫·高布伦 and 鲁伯特·艾弗雷特 for that role, before deciding to play it himself.
Deeply rasping voice