Earl Cameron

Okay.

Just to finish off, and I've called this Earl Cameron, what a fucking legend.

Uh, okay.

Because I did some research into this man.

I am thoroughly impressed.

Okay, go on.

Um, so the character was originally scripted to be Welsh, and director Derek Martinus cast Earl Cameron, who is Bermudan originally, arguing that there was no reason why the character couldn't be Black and Welsh.

Great, very representative.

Yeah, it was stock to begin with.

But you're right, Earl Cameron, more of that.

Yeah.

Legendary actor who lived to the age of 103.

Black British stars of the screen today, like Sir Lenny Henry and Trevor MacDonald, were breakthrough figures whose paths were shaped by the people who came before them.

Earl Cameron became one of the first black actors in a major TV role in 1951, in The Emperor Jones.

But these opportunities were not easy to come by, especially at a time when British society was particularly hostile towards black communities.

In order to understand the plight of some of Britain's breakthrough television stars, we need to understand what life was like in Britain for the newly arrived Windrush generation back in the 1950s.