Edric Connor
Edric Connor (born August 2, 1913 in Mayaro , Trinidad , † October 16, 1968 in London ) was a British singer and actor in film and television, born in the West Indies . His film career included more than 20 appearances in international feature films and television series. Including prominent roles in West Zanzibar , Moby Dick , The Vikings , King of Kings or Four for Texas .
life and career
Edric Connor was born in 1913 in the Mayaro-Rio Claro region of Trinidad. As a young man he recognized his talent for singing. Connor left Trinidad in 1944 for England, where he quickly established himself as a musician and a few years later pursued a career as an actor.
He made his television debut at the age of 33 in the television film All God's Chillun 'Got Wings , directed by Eric Fawcett. At the beginning of the 1950s he made the leap to the big screen. In 1951 he played in Zoltan Korda's drama Because they should be comforted, his first important supporting role in the film. Other prominent appearances in international cinema followed in 1954 in the adventure film West Zanzibar as Ushingo and in 1956 in John Huston's well-known literary film adaptation Moby Dick in the role of Daggoo. In Robert Parrish's adventure drama Playing with Fire he was seen as Jimmy Jean at the side of world stars such as Rita Hayworth , Robert Mitchum and Jack Lemmon . In 1958 he got an important supporting role in Richard Fleischer's historical film The Vikings , and the director John Huston cast him again, this time in the role of Waitari in the Errol Flynn film The Roots of Heaven . In the early 1960s, the director Nicholas Ray engaged him for his Bible adaptation King of Kings for the role of Balthazar as one of the three wise men and in 1963 Robert Aldrich cast him in his western comedy Four for Texas as Prince George.
Edric Connor's series appearances from 1959 to 1967 included: The Four Righteous , Secret Order for John Drake , With Umbrella, Charm and Bowler Hat , Secret Agent and The Man with the Suitcase .
In the crime film The Arrest Warrant by director Ralph Thomas , he finally played his last role alongside stars such as Rod Taylor , Christopher Plummer and Lilli Palmer . Connor died on October 16, 1968 at the age of 55 in London as a result of a stroke.
As a singer he made the calypso Christmas song The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy popular as a traditional English Christmas song from the West Indies, as well as the folk song Banana Boat Song by the group Edric Connor & His Caribbeans from Trinidad in 1952 . In 1956, Edric Connor and his wife Pearl Connor founded the Edric Connor Agency (later renamed The Afro-Asian Caribbean Agency ) to encourage and promote young talent with a migrant background in Great Britain.
Filmography (selection)
movie theater
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watch TV
Short films
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literature
- Edric Connor. In: Stephen Bourne Mother Country: Britain's Black Community on the Home Front, 1939-45. , The History Press, 2013
Web links
- Edric Connor in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Edric Connor's biography in: The New York Times
- Films by Edric Connor with German distribution titles
Individual evidence
- ↑ Edric Connor. In: Stephen Bourne: Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television. , A&C Black, 2005, p. 89
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Connor, Edric |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 2, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mayaro , Trinidad |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 16, 1968 |
| Place of death | London , England |