EARL NOW NEVERWHERE
Earl Cameron has lost his final battle with life, shortly before his 103rd birthday.Born in Bermuda, Cameron worked in the British Merchant Navy before winding up in London in 1939. Due to race relations at the time, he struggled to find work and had to take on any odd job that was going. He quickly moved into stage acting, and toured with ENSA during World War Two. In 1951, he broke barriers by becoming one of the first black leads in a British film, Pool of London, in which he had the first interracial relationship in British film. Frequently he turned down roles he felt were stereotyped or played to prejudices.
He would go on star in many films, and appear in the Bon film Thunderball, and the Doctor Who story The Tenth Planet. On TV he appeared in everything from The Prisoner to Waking the Dead, and aged 79 he appeared as the Abbot in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. In recent years, his work as a film and TV pioneer began to become more appreciated by wider society which led to widespread interviews and BBC acknowledgement of his century. He never claimed anything special to his career however, retaining till his death that quiet dignity which smashed down glass ceilings for those who followed him.
Cameron was picked by 5 teams, including Yvonne and Gone. She’s on fire, that one! Grim McGraw and Circling the Drain count the points too.
Earl Cameron
8 August 1917 – 3 July 2020
5 teams