Errol John[The Member of the Wedding|] was a Trinidad and Tobago actor and playwright who emigrated to the UK in 1951.
Biography
Born in Port of Spain, John was home-schooled, then began his career as an artist and journalist. Deciding to pursue a career in acting, he joined the Whitehall Theatre Group in Trinidad. Following the Second World War, John moved to Britain in 1951 and continued to work in the theatre, appearing on the London stage in productions including Salome, Carson McCullers' play The Member of the Wedding at the Royal Court Theatre, The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure and Othello. He had several small roles in films such as The African Queen, The Heart of the Matter, The Emperor Jones, Simba, The Nun's Story and Guns at Batasi. He gained a major role in the BBC's A Man from the Sun, alongside Cy Grant, Nadia Cattouse and Colin Douglas, and later had a significant role in the television seriesNo Hiding Place and in the five-part series Rainbow City, written for him by John Elliott. John's first script written for a play was The Tout, then in 1957 his Moon on a Rainbow Shawl won The Observer's Play of the Year award. It was produced at the Royal Court in 1958, and in 1962 in New York City. In the UK there have been notable productions at the Almeida Theatre, at Stratford East, and most recently at the Cottesloe Theatre, Royal National Theatre in an acclaimed production directed by Michael Buffong. The Observer′s reviewer wrote: "It is marvellous to report that, 55 years on, this play, in its original version, holds its own and seems fresh as the day it was written." On 27 May 1958, a version of the play that John had adapted for radio and entitled Small Island Moon was broadcast on the BBC's Third Programme; it was produced by Donald McWhinney and Robin Midgley, with a cast led by John himself and including Barbara Assoon, Sylvia Wynter, Lionel Ngakane, Andrew Salkey, Robert Adams, and Sheila Clarke. Errol John's other writing included Force Majeure, The Dispossessed and Hasta Luego: Three Screenplays. For television he wrote Teleclub and Dawn, and was also the author of The Exiles, part of the BBCWednesday Play series. He attempted to work in the American film industry, but was limited to minor roles in Assault on a Queen and Buck and the Preacher. John died in Camden, North London, at the age of 63. He was posthumously awarded the Trinidad & TobagoChaconia Medal, for Drama, in 1988.
