24 Facts About Earl Cameron

Earlston Jewett Cameron CBE, known as Earl Cameron, was a Bermudian actor who lived and worked in the United Kingdom.

Earl Cameron 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, The Prisoner, and The Andromeda Breakthrough.

Earl Cameron was born in Pembroke, Bermuda, and grew up on Princess Street, Hamilton.

Earl Cameron's father was a stonemason who died in 1922, after which Cameron's mother took on various jobs to support the family.

Earl Cameron faced difficulties as a black person trying to find employment; he was reluctantly taken on as a dishwasher in a hotel and had to accept whatever casual work came his way.

Earl Cameron, who was working at the kitchen of the Strand Corner House at the time, was fed up with menial jobs and asked Crossman if he could get him on the show.

Earl Cameron told Cameron that all the parts had been cast, but two or three weeks later, when one of the actors did not show up, Crossman arranged a meeting with the director Robert Atkins, who cast Cameron on the spot.

Earl Cameron encountered fellow Bermudian Ernest Trimingham still working in the West End.

In 1945 and 1946, Earl Cameron took on the role of one of the Dukes in the singing trio the Duchess and Two Dukes, which toured with the Entertainments National Service Association to play to British armed forces personnel in India in 1945, and the Netherlands in 1946.

In 1946, Earl Cameron went back to Bermuda for five months but then returned to work as an actor in the UK.

Earl Cameron took a job on the London stage as an understudy in the play Deep Are the Roots.

Earl Cameron won much critical acclaim for his part in the film, which is considered "the first major role for a black actor in a British mainstream film".

That same year Earl Cameron played the Mau Mau general Jeroge in Safari.

Earl Cameron acted alongside Thunderball lead Sean Connery in Cuba, in which he played Colonel Levya.

Earl Cameron's later film appearances include a major role in Sidney Pollack's The Interpreter as dictator Edmond Zuwanie who is a fictionised version of Robert Mugabe.

Earl Cameron appeared in a cameo as a portrait artist in the 2006 film The Queen, alongside Helen Mirren.

Earl Cameron appeared in a range of popular television shows including series Danger Man alongside series star Patrick McGoohan.

Earl Cameron worked with McGoohan again when he appeared in the TV series The Prisoner as the Haitian supervisor in the episode "The Schizoid Man".

In 2017, a month after his 100th birthday, Earl Cameron was cast in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel Anansi Boys, starring Lenny Henry.

Earl Cameron was survived by his second wife, Barbara Bower.

Earl Cameron had six children, five by his first marriage.

Earl Cameron was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Earl Cameron died at his home in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England, on 3 July 2020 at the age of 102, surrounded by his wife and family.

Earl Cameron was truly a man who stood by his moral principles and was inspirational.