Oliver Skeete (born 26 March 1956 in

Speightstown Speightstown (), also known as ''Little Bristol'', is the second largest City centre of Barbados. It is situated north of the capital city of Bridgetown, in the northern parish of Saint Peter. The City is named after William Speight, a member o ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

) is a British

showjumper Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes sho ...

turned

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contestant and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Biography

One of a family of 10 (four brothers and five sisters), Skeete travelled to England in September 1964 to join his parents who had settled in

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, West London, and attended local schools to the age of fifteen. On leaving school Skeete qualified as a motor mechanic three years later. He worked for a time as a door supervisor at the Haven Stables on Spring Bridge Road in Ealing. His main sporting interest at this time was football and he played for a local youth team. Skeete was first introduced to the world of horses by a chance meeting with a Spanish countess in a night-club. However, this was not a successful introduction as Skeete was left bruised and embarrassed after being thrown in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

. After marriage to another woman and two daughters to entertain, Skeete enrolled them at a local riding school. He found that his enthusiasm grew with theirs and decided to horse riding again. Skeete sold the family car to purchase his first horse, and started show jumping in 1992, aged 36. He has competed at most levels except the very top. Skeete intended to represent Barbados at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000 as he failed to achieve the national British team Olympic standard and tried show jumping under the Barbadian flag, but he did not gain the required number of points for qualification.

After show jumping

Skeete attained a level of fame that was out of proportion to his quite modest achievements as a showjumper. This was partly due to his status as a dreadlocked black competitor in the overwhelmingly white middle-class world of British showjumping, and he used this novelty factor to generate media interest. He has maintained his minor celebrity status since leaving showjumping, appearing in TV shows such as ITV's ''

Celebrity Wrestling ''Celebrity Wrestling'' is a British television programme, broadcast on ITV in 2005. It involved two teams of celebrities, competing against each other in wrestling style events. The series was presented by Kate Thornton and Rowdy Roddy Piper. ...

'' and '' The Mint'', Sky One's '' Brainiac: Science Abuse'' and Five's ''

The All Star Talent Show ''The All Star Talent Show'' is a 2006 UK television programme that was broadcast on Five. It was presented by Andi Peters and Myleene Klass, with Julian Clary making up the judging panel alongside two guest judges. Each show had six celebritie ...

'' and ''Diet Doctors''. He also had a minor role in the Bond film ''

Die Another Day ''Die Another Day'' is a 2002 spy film and the twentieth film in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It was produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, and directed by Lee Tamahori. The fourth and final film st ...

'', where he delivered

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...

a key to the London Underground "offices" of

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. He also had worked on a British film called ''Clubbing to Death'', with Nick Moran, Huey Morgan and Dave Courtney, that was due for release in 2007. Skeete's

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

is called ''Jumping the Odds: Memoirs of a Rastafarian Showjumper''. As of mid-July 2010 Skeete now works within the haulage industry as a lorry driver for MJD Group located in Kent.

References

External links

Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skeete, Oliver 1956 births Living people Barbadian male film actors English male equestrians English male film actors British show jumping riders English people of Barbadian descent Participants in British reality television series