|
Earl Cameron, CBE (born 8 August 1917) is a Bermudian actor. Along with Cy Grant, he is known as one of the first black actors to break the "colour bar" in the United Kingdom. according to ''Screenonline'', "Earl Cameron brought a breath of fresh air to the British film industry's stuffy depictions of race relations. Often cast as a sensitive outsider, Cameron gave his characters a grace and moral authority that often surpassed the films' compromised liberal agendas."〔Dylan Cave, ("Cameron, Earl" ), ''Screenonline'', BFI.〕 He also had repeated appearances on many British science fiction programmes of the 1960s, including ''Doctor Who'', ''The Prisoner'' and ''The Andromeda Breakthrough''. ==Early career== Cameron was born in Pembroke, Bermuda.〔 〕 As a young man, he joined the British Merchant Navy, and sailed mostly between New York and South America. When the Second World War broke out he found himself stranded in London, arriving on the ship ''The Eastern Prince'' on 29 October 1939. As he himself put it in an interview for ''The Royal Gazette'' newspaper: "I arrived in London on 29 October 1939. I got involved with a young lady and you know the rest. The ship left without me, and the girl walked out too." In 1941, a friend named Harry Crossman gave Cameron a ticket to see a revival of ''Chu Chin Chow'' at the Palace Theatre. Crossman and five other black actors had bit parts in the West End production. Cameron who was working at the kitchen of the Strand Corner House at the time, was fed up with menial jobs and asked Crossman if he could get him on the show. At first he told Cameron that all of the parts were cast, but two or three weeks later, when one of the actors did not show up, Crossman arranged a meeting with the director Robert Atkins, who cast Cameron on the spot.〔 According to Cameron, he had a less difficult time than other black actors because his Bermudian accent sounded American to British ears. For example, the following year, he landed a speaking role as Joseph, the chauffeur in the American play ''The Petrified Forest'' by Robert E. Sherwood.〔 In 1945 and 1946 he took on the role of one of the Dukes in the singing trio “The Duchess and Two Dukes”, which toured with the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) to play to British armed forces personnel in India in 1945, and The Netherlands in 1946. In 1946 Cameron returned to Bermuda for five months but decided to return to work as an actor in the UK. He then took a job on the London stage as an understudy in the play ''Deep Are the Roots''. Written by Arnaud d'Usseau and James Gow, this play was staged at the Wyndham's Theatre〔Sarah Lagan, ("Earl Cameron in play reading" ), ''Bermuda Sun'', 27 April 2012.〕 in London for six months (featuring Gordon Heath)〔Eleanor Blau, ("Gordon Heath, 72; Co-Starred in Play 'Dweep are the Roots'" ), ''The New York Times'', 31 August 1991.〕 and then went on tour. It was during this tour that Cameron first met, and worked alongside, Patrick McGoohan during a production of that play in Coventry. (In 2012, Cameron participated alongside local actors in Bermuda in a reading of ''Deep Are the Roots'', which the ''Bermuda Sun'' described as a play "dear to Earl’s heart, for it not only gave him his first break in the West End as Britain’s first black actor, but he also met his first wife when he travelled on tour with the production.")〔 He understudied in ''Deep are the Roots'' with fellow understudy Ida Shepley, a well known singer. As Cameron was having problems with his diction at the time she introduced him to a very good voice coach named Amanda Ira Aldridge. Miss Aldridge was the daughter of Ira Aldridge, a legendary black Shakespearian American actor of the 19th century. Cameron's breakthrough acting role was in ''Pool of London'', a 1951 film directed by Basil Dearden, set in post-war London involving racial prejudice, romance and a diamond robbery. He won much critical acclaim for his role in the film. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Earl Cameron (actor)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|