Joe Jenkins was an American dancer who moved to Australia and appeared in a number of TV plays. He was a rare black actor who played lead roles in Australian film industry at the time. He was the first black actor to play a lead role in an Australian TV drama. Jenkins came to Australia with the Katherine Dunham Dance Company and decided to stay. He made his acting debut in ''The Square Ring''.

Select filmography

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Rita Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...

'' (1959) - TV opera *''Make Outs Music'' (1959) - variety *''Cafe Continental'' *'' The BP Super Show'' (1959) - variety show, guest star *''

The Square Ring ''The Square Ring'' is a 1953 British tragi-comic drama, directed by Basil Dearden and made at Ealing Studios. It stars Jack Warner, Robert Beatty and Bill Owen. The film, based on a stage play by Ralph Peterson, centres on one night at a f ...

'' (1960) *''

The Emperor Jones ''The Emperor Jones'' is a 1920 tragic play by American dramatist Eugene O'Neill that tells the tale of Brutus Jones, a resourceful, self-assured African American and a former Pullman porter, who kills another black man in a dice game, is jailed, ...

'' (1960) *'' The Two Headed Eagle'' (1960) *'' The End Begins'' (1961) *''

Call Me a Liar ''Call Me a Liar'' is a 1961 Australian TV play. It was shot in Melbourne in studio with some location work. It was Channel 2's 49th live play. Plot Sammy Moles lives in a world of make believe. For his employer's benefit he invents a wife and c ...

'' (1961) *''

Just Barbara ''Just Barbara'' is an Australian television series which aired in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most pop ...

'' (1961) and ''Chez Barbara'' - variety show starring Barbara Virgil - Jenkins was a regular performer

References

External links

Joe Jenkins
at

Ausstage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...

Joe Jenkins
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Australian actors {{Australia-film-bio-stub