Oscar James (born 25 July 1942) is a Trinidadian actor, who is based in the United Kingdom. He has had a long and varied career, but is best known for appearing on British television, in particular the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', where he played original character

Tony Carpenter Tony Carpenter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Oscar James, from 28 February 1985 until 28 May 1987. Happy-go-lucky Tony tries to carve himself a successful business and steady home for his family, ...

for over two years. James resides in

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

Early life

James was born in Trinidad, and had a poor upbringing. He came to the United Kingdom in the 1950s.Oscar James interview"
BBC. Retrieved 22 April 2007. He initially worked as a taxi driver, a dish-washer and also a gymnast, but he always had aspirations to be an entertainer and followed his dream by becoming an actor.

Career

Roles for black actors were sparse during James' early career, but he persevered to become the fourth black actor to join the Royal Shakespeare Company and the first black actor to play ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

''. In 1972, he co-founded with fellow actor Alton Kumalo the first black British theatre company, Temba (the name derived from the Zulu word for "hope"), initially to produce new black writing from Britain and South Africa. Temba staged the first British production of Athol Fugard's '' Sizwe Bansi is Dead''.Richard Anthony Baker
"Alton Kumalo" (obituary)
''The Stage'', 26 November 2013. James had early roles in television programmes such as '' Softly, Softly'' (1966); '' Love Thy Neighbour'' (1975); '' Quiller'' (1975); '' Till Death Us Do Part'' (1975); ''

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their The Goodies (TV series), ep ...

'' (the 1975 episode "

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

", in which he played

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

); ''

Gangsters A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix ''-ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and r ...

'' (1976); ''

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

'' (1976); '' The Professionals''; ''

Out Out may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 * ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander * ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese film ba ...

'' (1978); '' Minder'' (1979); '' Shoestring'' (1980); '' Tales of the Unexpected'' (1981) and '' The Gentle Touch'' (1984). He was the first black actor to appear in the ITV soap opera ''

Emmerdale Farm ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...

'' in 1978 as Antony Moeketsi, an African teacher who taught Seth Armstrong to read. However, he is best known for his role as

in the BBC television soap opera '' EastEnders''. James was one of the original cast members, appearing in the series from its debut in 1985 until 1987. Other TV credits include: '' Minder'' in the Series 1 episode " Come in T-64, Your Time Is Ticking Away" (1979), '' Casualty'' (1996), ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'' (1994), '' London's Burning'' (2002), '' Doctors'' (2002; 2005), ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' (2006), '' Crocodile Shoes II'' (2006), ''

The Line of Beauty ''The Line of Beauty'' is a 2004 Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst. Plot The novel is set in Britain in three parts, taking place in 1983, 1986 and 1987. The story surrounds the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest. Nick is midd ...

'' (2006), ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'' (2006), ''

Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...

'' (2002), '' Afterlife'' (2005) and the television drama ''Angel Cake'' (2006). He has also appeared in several films, including the 1977 film '' Black Joy'', where he played loan shark Jomo, and the 2005

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

adaptation of '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', where he played the shopkeeper in whose shop

Charlie Bucket This is a list of characters in the 1964 Roald Dahl book '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', his 1972 sequel '' Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator'', and the former's film adaptations, '' Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' (1971) and ...

finds the final Golden Ticket. In 2004, James played Herbert in ''Oxford Road: the Story'', a radio play in which he worked alongside Doña Croll, an actress with whom he had previously worked in

Kwame Kwei-Armah Kwame Kwei-Armah (born Ian Roberts; 24 March 1967 in Hillingdon, London) is a British actor, playwright, director, singer and broadcaster. He is best known for playing paramedic Finlay Newton in the BBC medical drama '' Casualty'' from 1999 un ...

's play '' Elmina's Kitchen'' at the National Theatre. ''Elmina's Kitchen'' was adapted into a

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

televised film in 2005, in which James also starred.

Partial filmography

* '' A Matter of Choice'' (1963) - Dancing man at club (uncredited) * ''

Man in the Middle In cryptography and computer security, a man-in-the-middle, monster-in-the-middle, machine-in-the-middle, monkey-in-the-middle, meddler-in-the-middle, manipulator-in-the-middle (MITM), person-in-the-middle (PITM) or adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM ...

'' (1964) - Court Martial stenographer (uncredited) * ''Never Mention Murder'' (1965) - Hospital Orderly (uncredited) * '' Naked Evil'' (1966) - Dupree * '' Carry on Up the Jungle'' (1970) - Nosha Warrior (uncredited) * '' The Breaking of Bumbo'' (1970) - Second Student * ''

All the Right Noises ''All the Right Noises'' is a 1971 British drama film directed by Gerry O'Hara and starring Tom Bell, Olivia Hussey, Judy Carne and John Standing. It is set in London. Premise A married man with two young children, working as a lighting tech ...

'' (1971) - Guard * '' Gumshoe'' (1971) - Azinge * ''

Pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country a ...

'' (1976) - Colin * '' Black Joy'' (1977) - Jomo * '' Jaguar Lives!'' (1979) - Collins * '' Student Bodies'' (1981) - Football Coach * '' Last Night at the Alamo'' (1983) - Dub * ''

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

'' (1985) - Miguel * ''

Three Kinds of Heat ''Three Kinds of Heat'' is a 1987 American action film written and directed by Leslie Stevens and starring Robert Ginty, Victoria Barrett, Shakti Chen, Jeannie Brown, Leslie Clark and Malcolm Connell. It was released on December 4, 1987, by The ...

'' (1987) - Unle Joe * '' Hardware'' (1990) - Chief * '' My Kingdom'' (2001) - Desmond * '' If Only'' (2004) - Superintendent * '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005) - Shopkeeper * ''Shoot the Messenger'' (2006) - Rodney Pascale * ''Oh Happy Day'' (2007) - Storekeeper * '' Deadmeat'' (2007) - Detective Peters

References

External links

*
"Oscar James and Mustapha Matura in conversation"
National Theatre, July 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Oscar 1942 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago male film actors Trinidad and Tobago male stage actors Trinidad and Tobago male television actors Trinidad and Tobago taxi drivers British male film actors British male stage actors British male soap opera actors British taxi drivers Royal Shakespeare Company members Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom Black British male actors 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male actors 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago male actors 20th-century British male actors 21st-century British male actors 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago actors 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago actors