Errol John

Errol John, a Trinidad and Tobago actor and playwright, settled in Britain in 1951. Born in Port of Spain in 1924, he joined Trinidad's Whitehall Theatre Group and later appeared on the London stage in Salome, Measure for Measure and Othello at the Old Vic. His screen roles included small parts in Guns at Batasi (1964) and The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961), and minor roles in Buck and the Preacher (1972) and Assault on a Queen (1966). On television he had a major role in A Man from the Sun and appeared in No Hiding Place and Rainbow City. Frustrated by limited roles for black actors, he turned to playwriting. His Moon on a Rainbow Shawl earned him The Observer's Play of the Year award and was staged at the Royal Court and in New York. He wrote The Dispossessed, Force Majeure and Hasta Luego: Three Screenplays, and was posthumously awarded the Chaconia Medal (Silver) in 1988.