Pioneering actor Earl Cameron dies at 102

Actor Earl Cameron

The pioneering actor Earl Cameron has died aged 102. The Bermuda-born screen star was one of the first black actors to hit the big time in British cinema.

His career began in 1951 with Pool Of London, credited with being the first British film to feature an interracial relationship.

He also had roles in the 1965 Bond movie Thunderball as well as Doctor Who, Dixon Of Dock Green, Danger Man and Lovejoy. His death was announced yesterday by the Bermudian newspaper The Royal Gazette, prompting a flood of tributes.

Actor Paterson Joseph wrote on Twitter: “Giant Man. His generation’s pioneering shoulders are what my generation of actors stand on.

“No shoulders were broader than this gentleman with the voice of God and the heart of a kindly prince. RIP Earl Cameron.”

Film production company Studiocanaluk wrote: “We’re deeply saddened to hear of the passing of... Earl Cameron – one of the first prominent black actors to break through the ‘colour bar’ of British cinema.” Born in Bermuda, Cameron arrived in the UK in 1939 and lived in Warwickshire with his second wife Barbara. He was made a CBE in 2009.