Earl Cameron, one of the first Black actors to be cast in major roles in British films, has died at the age of 102.
His agent confirmed to TheWrap that Cameron died in his sleep on Friday.
“Our family have been overwhelmed by the outpourings of love and respect we have received at the news of our father’s passing,” his children said in a statement obtained by The Guardian. “As an artist and as an actor he refused to take roles that demeaned or stereotyped the character of people of colour. He was truly a man who stood by his moral principles and was inspirational.”
He was born in Bermuda in 1917, having come to the U.K. in 1939 after serving in the British Merchant Navy During World War II. When he arrived in the U.K., he began acting in stage productions before landing his first film role in 1951’s “Pool of London,...
His agent confirmed to TheWrap that Cameron died in his sleep on Friday.
“Our family have been overwhelmed by the outpourings of love and respect we have received at the news of our father’s passing,” his children said in a statement obtained by The Guardian. “As an artist and as an actor he refused to take roles that demeaned or stereotyped the character of people of colour. He was truly a man who stood by his moral principles and was inspirational.”
He was born in Bermuda in 1917, having come to the U.K. in 1939 after serving in the British Merchant Navy During World War II. When he arrived in the U.K., he began acting in stage productions before landing his first film role in 1951’s “Pool of London,...
- 7/4/2020
- by Margeaux Sippell
- The Wrap
Earl Cameron, one of the first major Black actors in British cinema, died on Friday at his home in England, his representative confirmed to Variety. He was 102.
Cameron was born in Pembroke, Bermuda, on Aug. 8, 1917, and joined the British Merchant Navy before pursuing a career in theater and film.
“Pool of London,” directed by Basil Dearden in 1951, was Cameron’s first film role. He played a sailor named Johnny Lambert who has a relationship with a white woman, played by Susan Shaw. The noir crime film is best known for portraying the first interracial romance in a British film.
Dearden and Cameron teamed up again in 1959 on the crime drama “Sapphire,” which examined racism in London toward immigrants from the West Indies. The film was progressive for its time and won the BAFTA Award for best film.
“Unless it was specified that this was a part for a Black actor,...
Cameron was born in Pembroke, Bermuda, on Aug. 8, 1917, and joined the British Merchant Navy before pursuing a career in theater and film.
“Pool of London,” directed by Basil Dearden in 1951, was Cameron’s first film role. He played a sailor named Johnny Lambert who has a relationship with a white woman, played by Susan Shaw. The noir crime film is best known for portraying the first interracial romance in a British film.
Dearden and Cameron teamed up again in 1959 on the crime drama “Sapphire,” which examined racism in London toward immigrants from the West Indies. The film was progressive for its time and won the BAFTA Award for best film.
“Unless it was specified that this was a part for a Black actor,...
- 7/4/2020
- by Jordan Moreau
- Variety Film + TV
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“Shore Leave Shenanigans”
By Raymond Benson
British noir is a slightly different animal than American film noir, which began in the early 1940s in Hollywood and lasted until roughly 1958 (if one is considering “pure” film noir and its singular traits). The British version, as well as the French and Italian editions, usually concentrates on a more “straight” narrative form with less melodrama. It is probably more true-to-life, drawing from the naturalism of Italian Neo-realism, than its counterpart across the Atlantic. It is certainly less histrionic and heightened. Nevertheless, British noir contains hallmarks of noir everywhere—black-and-white, Expressionistic photography; cynical and hard-edged characters; femmes fatale; brutality; and, of course, a crime.
Pool of London is a 1951 Ealing Studios crime drama (the studio was still making other genre pictures other than comedies at this time) that takes place in and around that geographical site. The...
“Shore Leave Shenanigans”
By Raymond Benson
British noir is a slightly different animal than American film noir, which began in the early 1940s in Hollywood and lasted until roughly 1958 (if one is considering “pure” film noir and its singular traits). The British version, as well as the French and Italian editions, usually concentrates on a more “straight” narrative form with less melodrama. It is probably more true-to-life, drawing from the naturalism of Italian Neo-realism, than its counterpart across the Atlantic. It is certainly less histrionic and heightened. Nevertheless, British noir contains hallmarks of noir everywhere—black-and-white, Expressionistic photography; cynical and hard-edged characters; femmes fatale; brutality; and, of course, a crime.
Pool of London is a 1951 Ealing Studios crime drama (the studio was still making other genre pictures other than comedies at this time) that takes place in and around that geographical site. The...
- 5/29/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
I’d never heard of this gem of a British production; now it goes on my list of highly recommended titles. A dock area on the Thames is ‘the pool,’ and the sailors that disembark from the cargo ships are susceptible to the temptations of black market trade. A single eventful weekend traces the fates of a half-dozen young people, the women that like the sailors, and the sailor that gets mixed up in a deadly serious crime. Director Basil Dearden’s excellent cast is mostly unfamiliar to us Yanks, but we get really tied up in their problems. This picture should be much better known. It’s the first English movie to depict an interracial romance, and it does so without sensationalism or special pleading. The best new extra is an interview with actor Earl Cameron, who at 103 years of age has his act (and his memories) totally together.
- 5/16/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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