Dec

31

Veteran Bahá’í actor honoured by Queen

Filed Under Arts and entertainment, People | 

Veteran actor, Earl Cameron, has been named a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in HM the Queen’s New Year Honours list.

After a career spanning seven decades, 91 year old Mr Cameron has been honoured for his “services to drama”.

A dedicated member of the Bahá’í faith since 1963, Mr Cameron - who now lives in Kenilworth, Warwickshire - made his screen debut in the Ealing drama, Pool of London, in which he played a Jamaican sailor on shore leave who befriends a white girl. This was the first British film to show, however tentatively, a mixed-race relationship.

Bermudan-born Mr Cameron’s most famous screen roles were in two films that confronted racism in Britain – Sapphire (1959) and Flame in the Streets (1961). He also became a familiar face on television in such cult favourites as Danger Man, Doctor Who and The Prisoner. In his 80s, he co-starred as a despotic African dictator in The Interpreter, with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn

Most recently, he had a cameo role in The Queen with Helen Mirren. Mr Cameron told the Birmingham Post that he is ready to meet the real-life Queen. “I played an artist who painted Helen Mirren’s portrait in The Queen,” he said, “so I have already had a trial run. It never occurred to me I would come up for any kind of award like this.”

Among other Bahá’ís who have received honours are Hollywood film-music composer Russell Garcia and his singer wife Gina, now resident in New Zealand, who receive Queen’s Service Medals for their services to music.

Mabel Wharekawa-Burt, 61, television presenter, recevied the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to performing arts and the community.

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