Earl Cameron

For the Canadian news anchor, see Earl Cameron (broadcaster).

Earl Cameron
CBE
Earl Cameron (aged 100) in 2017
Born
Earlston Jewitt Cameron

(1917-08-08)8 August 1917
Pembroke, Bermuda
Died3 July 2020(2020-07-03) (aged 102)
Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England
OccupationActor
Years active1941-2017
Spouses
  • Audrey J. P. Godowski
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1959; died 1994)​
    [1][2]
  • Barbara Bower
    ​
    (m. 1994)​
    [3]
Children6

Earlston Jewett Cameron, CBE (8 August 1917 – 3 July 2020), known as Earl Cameron, was a Bermudian actor who lived and worked in the United Kingdom.[Note 1] After appearing on London's West End stage, he became one of the first black stars in the British film industry.[4]

With his appearance in 1951's Pool of London, Cameron became one of the first black actors to take up a starring role in a British film after Paul Robeson, Nina Mae McKinney and Elisabeth Welch in the 1930s.[5][6]

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."[7]

He starred alongside Sean Connery in Thunderball (1965). He made appearances in many 1960s British science fiction programmes, including Doctor Who, where he was reportedly one of the first black actors to play an astronaut on television,[8] The Prisoner, and The Andromeda Breakthrough.[9] His film appearances continued until 2013, when he was 96.[10]

  1. ^ "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005". FamilySearch.
  2. ^ "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005". FamilySearch.
  3. ^ "Earl Cameron - Actor", Bermudians.uk. Accessed 20 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Video: Channel 4 Interviews Actor Earl Cameron - Bernews". Bernews. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  5. ^ Blake, Imogen (7 April 2016), "Pioneering actor Earl Cameron, 98: 'Showbusiness was just a means to an end'" Archived 24 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Ham & High.
  6. ^ Morris, Nathalie (3 April 2017), "Paul Robeson: the singer and activist who pioneered a path for black actors", BFI.org.uk.
    As the movie posters on this website show, Robeson, McKinney and Welch all received top billing for their work on the 1930s British screen.
  7. ^ Cave, Dylan, "Cameron, Earl", Screenonline.org.uk. Accessed 20 November 2022.
  8. ^ Haring, Bruce (4 July 2020). "Earl Cameron Dies: Black Pioneer In British Film And TV Was 102". Deadline. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference BITBF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Young, Graham (30 May 2013). "No slowing down for Earl Cameron, Britain's first black film actor". Birmingham Post.


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