EARL CAMERON

3 Jul

(8 August 1917 - 3 July 2020)

The Bermudan-born actor Earl Cameron, who has died aged 102, came to Britain during World War II. Working as a kitchen porter at Lyons Corner House, he bagged a walk-on part in Chu Chin Chow, followed by small speaking roles. He broadcast from the BBC to Africa and the Caribbean and toured to many UK theatre reps. His first film was Pool of London (1951), bold for its day, featuring the relationship between a white girl and a black sailor (Cameron). He made several more ‘problem’ pictures including Emergency Call, Simba, Safari, Odongo, The Heart Within and, in particular, Sapphire and Flame in the Street, both dealing with racial prejudice. Cameron also appeared in several TV series and his other films of note include Guns at Batasi, Thunderball, Two Gentlemen Sharing, The Revolutionary, A Warm December (directed by and starring Sidney Poitier), The Message, Cuba, The Interpreter, The Queen and Christopher Nolan’s Inception, his last film, in 2010. Earl Cameron married Audrey Godowski and they have five children. She died in 1994. He subsequently married his second wife, Barbara. He was awarded a CBE in 2009 for his services to drama.

MICHAEL DARVELL

Michael Darvell

Michael Darvell trained as a librarian at Watford and in Surrey before joining Ealing Libraries where he became Music Librarian for the borough. He edited Masthead, the magazine of the University of North London School of Librarianship, The Surrealist, the staff magazine of Surrey County Library, and contributed to the Assistant Librarian and London Librarian professional journals. A freelance film reviewer since 1970, he has written for Film, Films Illustrated, Film Review, Movie Maker and Radio Times, as well as editing Montage, the London film societies magazine, for ten years. A change of career saw him joining What’s On in London as Features Editor and he eventually stepped into the shoes of the late F. Maurice Speed (founding father of Film Review annual) as the magazine’s Editor. From 2007 to 2015, he was co-editor of the Film Review annual with Mansel Stimpson. As well as writing about films, Michael has reviewed theatre for The Stage newspaper, and has written about music theatre and cabaret for the Classical Source and Musical Theatre Review websites. He is also a former restaurant critic for the ViewLondon website. Michael has been a member of the London Film Critics’ Circle since 2005.

EARL CAMERON

ENNIO MORRICONE

CARL REINER