Trailblazing pioneer has been a star of screen, stage and television for more than 50 years
Bermudian actor Earl Cameron will be honoured with a retrospective of his work at the 10th Bermuda International Film Festival, March 16-24, 2007.
Mr. Cameron, 89, will travel to the festival from his home in Warwickshire, England. The festival will feature a selection of his films, including one screening that will be followed by a sit-down chat about his life and career.
Mr. Cameron was born in Pembroke on August 8, 1917. He joined the Merchant Navy, and sailed mostly between New York and South America before the outbreak of World War Two resulted in the Royal Navy diverting his ship to the United Kingdom. Without a passport, he could not get back to Bermuda so he took a job. Two years later, while working in the kitchen of a restaurant, he saw a play in the West End, Chu Chin Chow. A few weeks later, a walk-on part in the play opened up – and Mr. Cameron, who had friends in the production, stepped into the role. The play ran until 1946, becoming what at the time was the longest-running musical in the West End.
His breakthrough film role was as the merchant seaman Johnny in Pool of London (1950). Set in post-war London, the film involved racial prejudice, romance, and a diamond robbery. Mr. Cameron won much critical acclaim for his performance.
Mr. Cameron also starred in Simba (1955) before giving an impressive performance in the low-budget crime drama The Heart Within (1957). His most famous early screen roles were in two melodramas that attempted to confront the issue of racism in Britain: Sapphire (1959) and Flame in the Streets (1961). He also appeared in the 1965 James Bond film, Thunderball, among many other roles.
A member of the Baha’i faith, Mr. Cameron stepped away from his acting career in 1979 to move to the Solomon Islands, where he assisted the Baha’i community there. He returned to the UK in 1994. He came out of silver screen retirement in 2004 to play the role of African despot Edmund Zuwanie in Sydney Pollack’s The Interpreter and can be seen in the current theatrical release, The Queen directed by Stephen Frears and starring Helen Mirren.
He has also starred in numerous stage plays, television series and radio broadcasts.
“We are delighted that we will be welcoming Mr. Cameron home on the occasion of the festival’s 10th anniversary,” says the festival’s deputy director, Duncan Hall. “Having a ‘son of the soil’ as one of our featured guests will be one of the highlights of festival week.”
“Mr. Cameron has been widely hailed as the most successful black actor that Britain has produced, and rightly so,” says the festival’s director of programming, David O’Beirne. “His career has spanned more than half a century, and he continues to be a working actor today. I know I speak for the entire programming committee when I say that we are looking forward to featuring a selection of Mr. Cameron’s films at the festival.”
Full details of the retrospective will be announced a bit closer to the festival.
The many accolades bestowed on Mr. Cameron over his long career include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bermuda Arts Council in 1999 and a retrospective by the prestigious National Film Theatre in London in 2002.
