Earl Cameron

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Earl Cameron in August 2017

Earlston "Earl" J. Cameron , CBE (born August 8, 1917 in Pembroke Parish , Bermuda ; † July 3, 2020 in Kenilworth , Warwickshire , England ) was a British actor of Bermudian origin. Through his appearance in the crime film Underworld , he became one of the first black leading actors in a British film production in 1951.

Life

Earl Cameron was born in Pembroke Parish, Bermuda in 1917. As a young man he was hired by the merchant navy and from then on worked mainly on ships between South America and New York as well as to Europe . Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War , Cameron arrived on October 29, 1939 with the cargo ship Eastern Prince in the port of London , where he settled. An originally planned return to Bermuda failed due to the war. Cameron worked among other things as a dishwasher and ice cream seller. In 1940, shortly after the Battle of Dunkirk, he was admitted to a hospital with pneumonia, which mainly contained wounded soldiers. Doctors did not treat Cameron, so his left lung was almost completely destroyed.

In 1941, after attending a performance at the Palace Theater in London, Cameron decided to become an actor himself. He got his first small role through contact with an actor friend at the West End Theater . 1945 and 1946 Cameron worked as a troop entertainer for the Entertainments National Service Association , which he performed in India and the Netherlands , among others . After a subsequent stay in his native Bermuda, Cameron returned to England and has now appeared in Deep Are the Roots at London's Wyndham's Theater . During another screening of the play in Coventry , he stood next to Patrick McGoohan , with whom he worked several times in the course of his career.

Cameron got his first film role in 1951 as one of the leading actors in Basil Dearden's Underworld (Pool of London) . He was one of the first black actors to get a leading role in a British film production. After Cameron received good reviews for his performance, he was seen in other film roles in the following years. He took on leading roles in Simba (1955), The Heart Within (1957) and Sapphire (1959) as well as supporting roles in other film productions and television series.

In 1964, Cameron starred as Captain Abraham in the war film Shots in Batasi . In 1965 he took on the role of James Bond's assistant Pinder in James Bond 007 - Fireball . Cameron's late work includes appearances in The Interpreter , The Queen, and Inception . His work includes more than 90 film and television productions. Cameron most recently appeared in the short film Up on the Roof in 2013 .

Earl Cameron was a Baha'i Faith . He had six children. After the death of his first wife Audrey JP Godowski in 1994, he married Barbara Cameron, with whom he remained together until his death. Cameron died in his sleep about a month before his 103rd birthday.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Earl Cameron  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ British film and television star Earl Cameron dies at the age of 102. In: kulturpoebel.de. July 4, 2020, accessed July 4, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Stacee Smith, Staying Power: Interview with Earl Cameron. In: Black History. August 11, 2019, accessed on February 13, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Xan Brooks: Interview: 'I've not retired!' Earl Cameron, Britain's first black film star, on Bond, racism - and turning 100. In: The Guardian . August 8, 2017, accessed March 8, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Imogen Blake: Pioneering actor Earl Cameron, 98: 'Show business was just a means to an end'. In: Ham & High. April 7, 2016, accessed June 13, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Andrew Pulver: Earl Cameron, 'Britain's first black film star', dies aged 102. July 4, 2020, accessed on July 4, 2020 . Earl Cameron: Biography. In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved July 5, 2020 .
  6. ↑ British film and TV star actor Earl Cameron dies. In: BBC News . July 4, 2020, accessed on July 4, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Cameron, Earl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cameron, Earlston J.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-Bermudian actor
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Pembroke Parish , Bermuda
DATE OF DEATH 3rd July 2020
Place of death Kenilworth , Warwickshire , England