Gene Winfield Dies: Custom Car Designer For ‘Blade Runner', ‘Star Trek' & More Was 97
He died March 4, according to his obit on Legacy.com. His Winfield Custom Shop had posted on Instagram late last month that he had cancer.
More from Deadline
2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries
George Barris Dies: Custom Car Creator Behind 1960s Batmobile Was 89
Roberto Orci Dies: 'Star Trek', 'Transformers' & 'Hawaii Five-0' Writer-Producer Was 51
Winfield was known as 'The King of Kustoms,' and his most famous creations include the iconic Galileo shuttlecraft and the Jupiter 8 for Star Trek — the latter seen in the episode 'Bread and Circuses' — and the 'spinners' for Blade Runner, which was nominated for the Special Effects Oscar. He also built the Catmobile for TV's Batman and gadget cars for Get Smart! and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. during the Bond-fueled spy craze of the 1960s.
His futuristic vehicles are seen in Back to the Future II, the original RoboCop, The Last Starfighter, Woody Allen's Sleeper and others. Winfield's cars also are seen in the Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force, Bewitched, Ironside, TV's Mission: Impossible and more.
Winfield's work was featured in a mid-2010s DVD series called The King of Kustoms, and he is the subject of David Grant's 2008 book The Legendary Custom Cars and Hot Rods of Gene Winfield.
Born on June 16, 1927, in Springfield, MO, Winfield moved with his family as a toddler to the Central California town of Modesto, where he grew up. By age 10, he was working on cars, beginning a lifelong gearhead obsession that led to auto racing and building by the early '50s, after a stint in the Army.
Often specializing in custom paint, he won accolades and many awards in the hot-rod community throughout his life and is a member of several halls of fame. He received the National Hot Rod Association's Lifetime Achievement Award and also worked with Detroit automakers.
DEADLINE RELATED VIDEO:
Best of Deadline
2025 Deaths Photo Gallery: Hollywood & Media Obituaries
2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery
The 25 Highest-Grossing Animated Films Of All Time At The Box Office
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Kim Kardashian Reacts To Anthony Hopkins Comparing Her Face Shapewear To Hannibal Lecter
Kim Kardashian has officially entered the chat after actor Anthony Hopkins playfully teased her last week over her new face shapewear, which has been causing a stir online. After Kardashian's shapewear and clothing company, Skims, released new face shapewear in beige and brown, social media users started comparing it to the mask Hopkins once wore as the cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in 'The Silence of the Lambs.' Joining in on the internet's chatter, Hopkins posted a video of himself on July 31 wearing one of the reality star's beige face shapewear wraps. Mimicking Lecter's chilling voice, the actor addressed Kardashian directly in a deadpan demeanor. 'Hello Kim, I'm already feeling 10 years younger,' he said before recreating the murderer's signature slurping sound from the 1991 horror classic. 'Thank you, Kim. Don't be afraid to come over for dinner,' Hopkins captioned the video, again referencing his human flesh-devouring character. Hopkins' post quickly went viral, amassing more than 1 million likes as of this writing. Kardashian responded to the actor by reposting his video on her Instagram Stories and writing, 'I'M SCREAMING!!!!!' The mom of four also appeared to make light of the criticism she's received for the face shapewear by reposting a Daily Mail article that highlighted fans' comparisons of the Skims product to Lecter's signature mask, BuzzFeed reported. Last week, some social media users accused Kardashian of 'profiting off [people's] insecurities.' Despite the backlash, the face wraps sold out on the Skims website just a day after their release. Related... Kim Kardashian Just Pissed Off The Internet With Her New Skims Shapewear Product Anthony Hopkins Just Made Kim Kardashian's Viral Chinstrap 10 Times Creepier Kim Kardashian Shocked By TikToker's Claim That Skims Bodysuit Saved Her Life
Screen Geek
an hour ago
- Screen Geek
Surprise MCU Character Return Confirmed For 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day'
The Marvel Cinematic Universe consists of numerous recurring characters, though sometimes it may take years for their appearances or setups to pay off, as we've recently seen with the long-awaited return of The Leader in Captain America: Brave New World . Similarly, it looks like another long-awaited MCU character return has finally been confirmed for Spider-Man: Brand New Day . The new Spider-Man movie will be the fourth entry in the MCU's Spider-Man series, also consisting of Spider-Man: Homecoming , Spider-Man: Far From Home , and Spider-Man: No Way Home . The fourth entry, as its very different title suggests, will take a very different direction from those previous installments. It's aiming to tell a lower-scale street-level story, one that will require an appearance from Jon Bernthal's Punisher. Additionally, as shared via THR, it appears another MCU character is confirmed to be joining the mix for the next Spider-Man movie. This one, however, is actually a character that previously appeared in the film series – only for a quick introduction that never seemed to pay off. Until now, that is. It looks like Michael Mando will be reprising his role from the 2017 franchise starter Spider-Man Homecoming , in which he briefly played fan-favorite comic book villain Scorpion. While it seemed likely at the time that Scorpion would appear in a sequel, those plans never seemed to come to fruition with the introduction of larger-scale narratives as we saw in Far From Home and No Way Home . Now, however, it looks like Michael Mando's Scorpion will find himself at the center of Spider-Man: Brand New Day . Additionally, the outlet confirms the return of another fan-favorite MCU character, though this is one role that has fortunately been given plenty of appearances over the years. This time, however, we'll get to see him alongside Tom Holland's Peter Parker and Jon Bernthal's Punisher. Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner aka Hulk is confirmed to be appearing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day . It's unknown how he'll fit into the story, especially alongside the likes of The Punisher and Scorpion, but the new film is definitely shaping up to be a very different kind of Spider-Ma n story. One that might be one of the closest yet to the classic comics. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is scheduled to hit theaters on July 31, 2026. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional MCU updates as we have them.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Jesse Metcalfe Regrets Skipping ‘Entourage' Audition: 'I Blew That One'
Although Jesse Metcalfe made his TV heartthrob debut on ABC's Desperate Housewives in 2004, he missed a chance to break out that year on HBO. The actor recently recounted 'auditioning for Adrian Grenier's role' as movie star Vincent Chase in the hit 6x Emmy-winning Doug Ellin series Entourage, which ran for eight seasons from 2004 to 2011 before culminating in a 2015 big screen offshoot. More from Deadline Rom-Com 'You, Always' Wraps Production In Queensland, Stars Adrian Grenier & Jessica De Gouw 'Boris Is Dead': Steven Bauer, Cam Gigandet, Thomas Dekker, Jesse Metcalfe, Martin & Jesse Kove Among Cast Additions To Indie Movie 'The Yogurt Shop Murders' Director On Revisiting The Tragic Case After More Than 30 Years: "It Was Just Such A World Of Darkness" 'I had an audition for Entourage, and I read the pilot episode, and I was like, 'This is stupid,' and I didn't go to the audition,' he admitted to People. 'Obviously, I had no idea what I was talking about,' added Metcalfe. 'That ended up being an iconic show that I absolutely love, and definitely wish I was a part of.' Entourage ultimately starred Grenier as Vincent, a newly-minted Hollywood star who migrates west from Queens, NY with his brother Drama (Kevin Dillon), best friend E (Kevin Connelly) and pal Turtle (Jerry Ferrara). The foursome acclimates to LA life with help from Vincent's agent Ari (Jeremy Piven). The series was a pre-The Studio hit that took frequent shots at the industry with help from a laundry list of Hollywood cameos and guest stars that include Martin Scorsese, EP Mark Wahlberg, Tom Brady, Pharrell Williams, Scarlett Johansson, Matt Damon, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, James Cameron, LeBron James, Mandy Moore, Jessica Alba, Christina Aguilera, Bob Saget, David Arquette, Seth Green, Mike Tyson, Mark Cuban, George Takei, Kelsey Grammer, Liam Neeson, Armie Hammer and Emily Ratajkowski. 'I blew that one,' Metcalfe lamented. 'Sometimes you gotta say no, but that was the wrong one. It taught me that I don't know everything.' The John Tucker Must Die star explained that he's since become 'absolutely' more 'likely to audition' for roles ever since that misjudgment. 'I've been auditioning for what it feels like is everything lately,' said Metcalfe. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Emmys, Oscars, Grammys & More
