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Post by number13 on Jul 4, 2020 13:29:00 GMT
RIP Earl Cameron CBE
I guess most of us Who fans still remember him best as astronaut captain Williams showing he has 'the right stuff' in 'The Tenth Planet', a human hero to the end, in contrast with the cold, worse-than-dead invaders from Mondas.
(At the time this must have been ground-breaking, a black actor in the role of a commander must have been very rare indeed on TV, certainly British TV.)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2020 14:22:28 GMT
RIP Earl Cameron CBE
I guess most of us Who fans still remember him best as astronaut captain Williams showing he has 'the right stuff' in 'The Tenth Planet', a human hero to the end, in contrast with the cold, worse-than-dead invaders from Mondas.
(At the time this must have been ground-breaking, a black actor in the role of a commander must have been very rare indeed on TV, certainly British TV.)
I saw him in the film Sapphire (1959) just a few weeks back, on Talking Pictures TV, which was praised for its handling of racial prejudice by contemporary critics. From his wikipedia entry: 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, which is considered "the first major role for a black actor in a British mainstream film"Quite a trailblazing British-Bermudian Actor of the 1950's and Kudos to William Hartnell era Doctor Who to cast him in a significant boundary breaking guest role appropriate to his reputation and standing, as number13 notes too. RIP - just one month shy of 103 - a very good innings. |
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Post by doctorkernow on Jul 5, 2020 9:29:35 GMT
Hello again.
A pioneer he kept kicking at the door that was largely shut for actors of his generation. He refused to take roles that were stereotypes or demeaning. as he told the Guardian:
“Unless it was specified that this was a part for a black actor, they would never consider a black actor for the part. And they would never consider changing a white part to a black part. So that was my problem. I got mostly small parts, and that was extremely frustrating – not just for me but for other black actors. We had a very hard time getting worthwhile roles.”
He was one of the that very exclusive club of Who centenarians. Whenever we watch the Tenth Planet his role in that story will live on as will his performances in his other work such as Thunderball, Inception, Danger Man, The Prisoner, Dixon of Dock Green, The Zoo Gang and Lovejoy.
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