BERMUDIAN actor Earl Cameron, honoured with the Bermuda International Film Festival's Prospero Award for lifetime achievement earlier this year, last month marked another milestone ¿ his 90th birthday.

Long resident in the United Kingdom, Mr. Cameron was recently subject of a lengthy profile published in the Coventry Evening Telegraph to mark both his birthday and his seemingly indefatigable reserves of energy.

"He jokingly once asked an actor friend for a job and went on to work with Helen Mirren, Sidney Poitier, Nicole Kidman, Richard Attenborough, Dirk Bogarde and even the original 007 himself, Sean Connery," reported the Telegraph's Marion McMullen.

Warwickshire-based actor Earl Cameron turned 90 last week, is still acting and laughingly says: "I made it."

Born in Bermuda, Cameron arrived in Britain at the age of 22 as the Second World War broke out and found it tough making ends meet in London.

"I was doing all these menial jobs ¿ kitchen porter, anything I could find," he remembers.

His big break came when he jokingly asked an actor friend, Henry Crossman, if he could find him a part in the West End show Chu Chin Chow.

"I didn't mean it," smiles Earl, "but he got in touch with me later and asked was I still interested because one of the cast had just dropped out.

"I had no training, no Equity (union) card and just two hours to get ready."

Earl still remembers the opening number of the show and breaks into the opening lines.

"My knees were trembling before I went on, the sweat was pouring out and I had never been on a stage before in my life, but it still beat washing dishes." The show launched Earl Cameron on his acting career and he learned his craft in repertory theatre, touring and in West End shows.

He even appeared in productions in Coventry after the Blitz and later worked with ENSA in India.

Earl was at the fore-front of black actors appearing on British television and in films and his big movie break came in Ealing's Pool of London in 1950 about a diamond robbery.

It was also one of the first British films to look at mixed-race romance and made Cameron the first black British actor to star in a feature film.

"Films were much more important in those days than television and Pool of London was a big turning point for me," says Cameron.

"I also did a TV drama ¿ of a play I had appeared in on stage ¿ and it went out live, as shows did back then."

Pool of London was a hit for Earl and he went on to appear in movies like Simba with Dirk Bogarde and Safari with Victor Mature.

He even fitted in a couple of Tarzan movies as well as top dramas Sapphire and Flame in the Street and got to work on his friend Sidney Poitier's film A Warm December.

Home for Earl Cameron these days is Kenilworth, but his acting work has taken him all over the world and he has appeared in about 35 movies.

He was James Bond's Bahamas-based colleague Pinder in Thunderball and remembers running into Sean Connery after one audition when everyone was still waiting to hear who would be playing 007 in Dr. No.

"Earl, I'm not too sure if I've got it," Sean said, shaking his head as they chatted in the hallway.

More recently, Earl has appeared with Helen Mirren in the Oscar-winning movie The Queen, was the fictional dictator Edward Zuwanie in Nicole Kidman's The Interpreter and featured in 2002 horror film Revelation.

"Helen Mirren and Nicole Kidman were wonderful to work with," says Earl with a happy sigh.

"They were delightful. Nicole is very easy to work with and it was a good part.

"They were actually going to build a replica of the United Nations for The Interpreter and were then told 'why don't you use the real building'. We had to film when working hours were over, of course, but it added an authentic touch."

It's no surprise if Earl Cameron's face looks so familiar, said the Telegraph, because he has been appearing on British television dramas since the 1950s.

His career has seen spells on British TV series like East Enders, Dalziel and Pascoe, Waking the Dead and even the children's programme Jackanory.

Back in the 1960s he was appearing in cult shows such as Dangerman, Doctor Who and The Prisoner.

"The Prisoner must have been one of my smallest roles and it's the one everyone remembers," Cameron told the newspaper.

Recently, the Bermudian actor was guest of honour at an event marking the 40th anniversary of actor/writer Patrick McGoohan's Prisoner series held in Portmeirion in North Wales, where much of the show was filmed.