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London website features the late Earl Cameron as part of Black History Month

Pioneer: actor Earl Cameron (File photograph)

The career of late Bermudian actor Earl Cameron has been highlighted in a London newspaper as part of the UK’s Black History Month.

Mr Cameron, who died last year aged 102, is one of three actors in the MyLondon article “who started their careers at Ealing Studios and went on to be pioneers in their field”.

The article said: “These men were Britain's best Black actors at the time, founders of some of the first Black theatre companies, and appeared in iconic films and television programmes such as James Bond and Doctor Who.

“Between the 1930s and the 1950s, several Black actors held starring and supporting roles in Ealing Studios films, which set them on their way to successful careers.”

The article gave a summary of Mr Cameron’s career and spotlighted that he had “a rare starring role for a Black actor”, in his first film, Pool of London, in 1951.

The article said: “Earl and a White actress had the first known cinematic interracial romance in the film.

“Earl appeared as James Bond's chauffeur in the 1965 film Thunderball, and played one of the astronauts on a spaceship in Doctor Who: Tenth Planet.

“More recently, he starred alongside Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn in the 2005 film The Interpreter and held a small role in the 2010 film Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.”

The article also quoted Mr Cameron on the problems Black actors faced in post-war Britain.

Mr Cameron said: “I wanted to play big parts in films, but Black film actors in this country were not given any promotion.

"Our names did not appear on film posters.

“I lost count of the times we met with Equity to try and stop Black Americans being brought over to take roles in British films like The L-Shaped Room, Heaven’s Above and The Hill.

"This happened because casting directors didn’t believe we – Black British actors – could act.

“But, in spite of this, I did work consistently throughout the 1950s and 1960s.”

The two other actors featured in the article were Robert Adams and Edric Connor.

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Published October 26, 2021 at 7:46 am (Updated October 26, 2021 at 7:46 am)

London website features the late Earl Cameron as part of Black History Month

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