Robert Adams (actor)
Encyclopedia
Robert Adams was a British actor of stage and screen. He was the founder and director of the Negro Repertory Arts Theatre, one of the first professional black theatre companies in Britain.
, British Guiana
(now Guyana
), Adams worked as a teacher and actor before coming to England in 1934 to try and make it as a professional actor. In London, he worked as a labourer and became a champion wrestler before breaking into acting in 1935.
by C. L. R. James
, acting alongside Paul Robeson
. He went on to star in films with Robeson and he took the lead in a television adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones
. The role of Brutus Jones, a Pullman porter who becomes the ruler of a Caribbean
island, had already been played by Robeson on stage and screen. The BBC
’s version was transmitted live from Alexandra Palace
on 11 May 1938, and Adams became the first black actor to play a leading dramatic role on British television.
After Paul Robeson returned to the United States
at the outbreak of the Second World War
, Robert Adams became Britain’s leading black actor, and would continue acting on television in the 1940s and 1950s. In the late 1940s, he founded the Negro Repertory Arts Theatre. whose productions included O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings
, at Colchester
in 1944. He also appeared in the Unity Theatre
's 1946 production of the play and a BBC television production in 1946.
Early years
Born in GeorgetownGeorgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
, British Guiana
British Guiana
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
(now Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
), Adams worked as a teacher and actor before coming to England in 1934 to try and make it as a professional actor. In London, he worked as a labourer and became a champion wrestler before breaking into acting in 1935.
Career
An early role was in the 1936 play Toussaint L'OuvertureToussaint L'Ouverture
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture , also Toussaint Bréda, Toussaint-Louverture was the leader of the Haitian Revolution. His military genius and political acumen led to the establishment of the independent black state of Haiti, transforming an entire society of slaves into a free,...
by C. L. R. James
C. L. R. James
Cyril Lionel Robert James , who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J.R. Johnson, was an Afro-Trinidadian historian, journalist, socialist theorist and essayist. His works are influential in various theoretical, social, and historiographical contexts...
, acting alongside Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
. He went on to star in films with Robeson and he took the lead in a television adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones
The Emperor Jones
The Emperor Jones is a 1920 play by American dramatist Eugene O'Neill which tells the tale of Brutus Jones, an African-American man who kills a man, goes to prison, escapes to a Caribbean island, and sets himself up as emperor...
. The role of Brutus Jones, a Pullman porter who becomes the ruler of a Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
island, had already been played by Robeson on stage and screen. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
’s version was transmitted live from Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...
on 11 May 1938, and Adams became the first black actor to play a leading dramatic role on British television.
After Paul Robeson returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the outbreak of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Robert Adams became Britain’s leading black actor, and would continue acting on television in the 1940s and 1950s. In the late 1940s, he founded the Negro Repertory Arts Theatre. whose productions included O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings
All God's Chillun Got Wings (play)
All God's Chillun Got Wings was a 1924 play by Eugene O'Neill about miscegenation.Paul Robeson performed in the premiere, in which he portrayed the black husband of an abusive white woman who, resenting her husband's skin colour, destroys his promising career as a lawyer.-Performances:Trish Van...
, at Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
in 1944. He also appeared in the Unity Theatre
Unity Theatre, London
The Unity Theatre was a theatre club formed in 1936, and initially based in St Judes Hall, Britannia Street, Kings Cross, in 1937 they moved to a former chapel in Goldington Street, near St Pancras, in the London Borough of Camden. Although the theatre was destroyed by fire in 1975 productions...
's 1946 production of the play and a BBC television production in 1946.
Selected filmography
- Sanders of the RiverSanders of the RiverSanders of the River is a 1935 film directed by Zoltán Korda, based on the stories of Edgar Wallace. It was later spoofed in the 1938 Will Hay film Old Bones of the River, which also featured the characters of Commissioner Sanders, Captain Hamilton and Bosambo seen in this film, but played by...
(1935) - Midshipman EasyMidshipman EasyMidshipman Easy is a 1935 British adventure film directed by Carol Reed and starring Hughie Green, Margaret Lockwood and Harry Tate. A young man runs away from home, joins the navy and goes to sea in the 1790s. He rescues a captive woman from a Spanish ship and battles pirates and smugglers...
(1935) - Song of Freedom (1936)
- King Solomon's MinesKing Solomon's Mines (1937 film)King Solomon's Mines is a 1937 film, the first film adaptation of the 1885 novel by the same name by Henry Rider Haggard. It starred Paul Robeson, Cedric Hardwicke, Anna Lee, John Loder and Roland Young...
(1937) - Old Bones of the RiverOld Bones of the RiverOld Bones of the River is a comedy film released in 1938 starring British actor Will Hay with Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt and directed by Marcel Varnel...
(1938) - It Happened One SundayIt Happened One SundayIt Happened One Sunday is a 1944 British romantic comedy film directed by Karel Lamac and starring Robert Beatty, Barbara White, Marjorie Rhodes, Kathleen Harrison and Moore Marriott. An Irish servant girl working in Liverpool mistakenly believes that she has a secret admirer working at a hospital,...
(1944) - DreamingDreaming (film)Dreaming is a 1944 British comedy film directed by John Baxter and starring Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen and Hazel Court. Its plot concerns a soldier who is knocked unconscious during a battle and has a series of bizarre dreams.-Cast:* Bud Flanagan - Bud...
(1945) - Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
- Men of Two WorldsMen of Two WorldsMen of Two Worlds is a 1946 British drama film directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Robert Adams, Eric Portman and Phyllis Calvert. An African music student returns home to battle a witch doctor for control over his tribe.-Cast:...
(1946) - Old Mother Riley's Jungle Treasure (1951)
- SapphireSapphire (film)Sapphire is a 1959 British crime drama. It focused on racism in London toward immigrants from the West Indies. The film was directed by Basil Dearden, and stars Nigel Patrick, Earl Cameron and Yvonne Mitchell. It received the BAFTA Award for Best Film and screenwriter Janet Green won a 1960 Edgar...
(1959) - The CriminalThe CriminalThe Criminal is a 1960 British drama film produced by Nat Cohen and directed by Joseph Losey, starring Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker and Jill Bennett. Baker plays an ex-con who takes part in the robbery of a racetrack and is caught and sent back to prison...
(1960)