Today we have heard of the passing of our close Bahá’í
friend, Earl Cameron, aged 102. He was an actor, and was still acting even into his nineties.
Among the many films in which he acted were Pool of London, Simba, Thunderball and The Interpreter, which was his last major role. When I was young, I remember seeing him in Thunderball, and being initially very surprised that the Chief Secret Serviceman in the West Indies was black, although it took me only seconds to realise that this was, in its way, quite natural!
Earl told me how his grandfather had become a slave. His grandfather was a boy of perhaps fourteen years old, and was fishing at sea with one of his friends in a small boat off Senegal. They were captured by a passing British merchant ship and taken to be sold as slaves, despite this having now been made illegal by Parliament. They were taken across the Atlantic, and Earl’s grandfather made good his escape once they had reached land in Bermuda. But of course he could not speak the language, and the chances of remaining free on an island were rather small! He was taken again and used as a slave.
Earl himself joined the British merchant navy. He found himself stranded in England in 1939, due to the outbreak of war, and hit upon the idea that he would like to be an actor. He used to turn up at the theatres, and talk to the people there, hoping to be given a way in to the profession. The answer always came down to the fact that you cannot act without an Equity card. Equity is the trade union for actors in the United Kingdom, and the only way to get an Equity membership card is to be acting. Acting, therefore, was a “closed shop”, and difficult to get into. Earl once told me how this impasse ended. He was walking along the street and bumped into a theatre producer. “Earl!” said the man. “You want to be an actor? Well, now, here’s your chance! One of our wizards hasn’t turned up for today’s show! How would you like to be our fourth wizard?” Earl jumped at the chance, and was promptly handed an Equity card! He explained to me what that first performance was like: “There was the singer at the front, and there were four wizards, two nearer the front and two behind them. They put me as one of the ones at the back. I tried to learn the words of the song, and the dance steps. But there wasn’t enough time for me to learn it all! That first performance was terrible, with me not singing, and making all the wrong dance moves! But from then on, I was in.”
I saw Earl quite frequently over the last few years. The basic meeting of the Bahá’í community is the “Feast” (it is a spiritual feast!), which happens once every nineteen days. The Bahá’ís from all of central Warwickshire often meet together in one home each time, and Earl was usually there with his wife, Barbara. His fine actor’s voice added to the timbre of the prayers being read out, and Earl was always an enthusiastic supporter of all types of Bahá’í activity. Every year, the Cameron family provided support for the Bahá’í stall at the Leamington Spa Peace Festival, and over the years I have come to know three of his daughters personally. (His son, Simon, is my friend on Facebook, but lives in the Solomon Islands where Earl and his first wife, Audrey, served as Bahá’í pioneers for some years.)
The other service I regularly performed for Earl was the supply of literature. My wife and I serve as distribution agents for Bahá’í books, and Earl frequently rang me: “Paddy, do you have a copy of ‘Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era’?” Earl considered that particular book to be the best introductory book on the Bahá’í Faith, as do I – although some people prefer other ones. Earl was constantly meeting new people, and was always keen on sending people a good, solid read, if he thought that they were at all interested! And even at his advanced age, he was still reading books himself, and used to ring me up asking for new titles which had come out.
Oddly, despite the huge difference in our ages, Earl and I came across the Bahá’í Faith because of the same event. In April, 1963, the Bahá’ís of the world held their first World Congress at the Royal Albert Hall, in London. One of Earl’s friends from Bermuda was a Bahá’í, and came to London for this large gathering. Staying with Earl, he managed to persuade Earl to come along for one session. Earl was not interested in organised religion, but went as a favour to his friend, and was absolutely bowled over by the friendly spirit, the openness, the enthusiasm and the inclusiveness of the Bahá’ís. He never looked back! When people questioned his sudden enthusiasm for religion, he used to say, “But this is different!” Meanwhile, when I was a teenager being driven through London, I was stuck in a traffic jam outside the Albert Hall. My mother, who loved London, was saying, “Look, boys, that’s the Albert Hall!” I looked, and people of all sizes and colours were pouring out of it, many of them in national costume. The large banner proclaimed: “Bahá’í World Congress”. “What’s that ‘B’ word, Dad?” I asked. Luckily, my father knew what it was, because my mother’s best friend from her schooldays (Audrie Reynolds, née Rogers) had become a Bahá’í. Audrie was, of course, at the Congress, and met her husband there. Later that year, I attended their wedding… I never told Earl about this odd connection between our lives.
So, what happens now? Bahá’u’lláh states that “The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother. When the soul attaineth the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befitteth its immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation.” In other words, we move on into another world, another plane of existence.
Such a lovely man will surely make steady spiritual progress in the next world.
Among the many films in which he acted were Pool of London, Simba, Thunderball and The Interpreter, which was his last major role. When I was young, I remember seeing him in Thunderball, and being initially very surprised that the Chief Secret Serviceman in the West Indies was black, although it took me only seconds to realise that this was, in its way, quite natural!
Earl told me how his grandfather had become a slave. His grandfather was a boy of perhaps fourteen years old, and was fishing at sea with one of his friends in a small boat off Senegal. They were captured by a passing British merchant ship and taken to be sold as slaves, despite this having now been made illegal by Parliament. They were taken across the Atlantic, and Earl’s grandfather made good his escape once they had reached land in Bermuda. But of course he could not speak the language, and the chances of remaining free on an island were rather small! He was taken again and used as a slave.
Earl himself joined the British merchant navy. He found himself stranded in England in 1939, due to the outbreak of war, and hit upon the idea that he would like to be an actor. He used to turn up at the theatres, and talk to the people there, hoping to be given a way in to the profession. The answer always came down to the fact that you cannot act without an Equity card. Equity is the trade union for actors in the United Kingdom, and the only way to get an Equity membership card is to be acting. Acting, therefore, was a “closed shop”, and difficult to get into. Earl once told me how this impasse ended. He was walking along the street and bumped into a theatre producer. “Earl!” said the man. “You want to be an actor? Well, now, here’s your chance! One of our wizards hasn’t turned up for today’s show! How would you like to be our fourth wizard?” Earl jumped at the chance, and was promptly handed an Equity card! He explained to me what that first performance was like: “There was the singer at the front, and there were four wizards, two nearer the front and two behind them. They put me as one of the ones at the back. I tried to learn the words of the song, and the dance steps. But there wasn’t enough time for me to learn it all! That first performance was terrible, with me not singing, and making all the wrong dance moves! But from then on, I was in.”
I saw Earl quite frequently over the last few years. The basic meeting of the Bahá’í community is the “Feast” (it is a spiritual feast!), which happens once every nineteen days. The Bahá’ís from all of central Warwickshire often meet together in one home each time, and Earl was usually there with his wife, Barbara. His fine actor’s voice added to the timbre of the prayers being read out, and Earl was always an enthusiastic supporter of all types of Bahá’í activity. Every year, the Cameron family provided support for the Bahá’í stall at the Leamington Spa Peace Festival, and over the years I have come to know three of his daughters personally. (His son, Simon, is my friend on Facebook, but lives in the Solomon Islands where Earl and his first wife, Audrey, served as Bahá’í pioneers for some years.)
The other service I regularly performed for Earl was the supply of literature. My wife and I serve as distribution agents for Bahá’í books, and Earl frequently rang me: “Paddy, do you have a copy of ‘Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era’?” Earl considered that particular book to be the best introductory book on the Bahá’í Faith, as do I – although some people prefer other ones. Earl was constantly meeting new people, and was always keen on sending people a good, solid read, if he thought that they were at all interested! And even at his advanced age, he was still reading books himself, and used to ring me up asking for new titles which had come out.
Oddly, despite the huge difference in our ages, Earl and I came across the Bahá’í Faith because of the same event. In April, 1963, the Bahá’ís of the world held their first World Congress at the Royal Albert Hall, in London. One of Earl’s friends from Bermuda was a Bahá’í, and came to London for this large gathering. Staying with Earl, he managed to persuade Earl to come along for one session. Earl was not interested in organised religion, but went as a favour to his friend, and was absolutely bowled over by the friendly spirit, the openness, the enthusiasm and the inclusiveness of the Bahá’ís. He never looked back! When people questioned his sudden enthusiasm for religion, he used to say, “But this is different!” Meanwhile, when I was a teenager being driven through London, I was stuck in a traffic jam outside the Albert Hall. My mother, who loved London, was saying, “Look, boys, that’s the Albert Hall!” I looked, and people of all sizes and colours were pouring out of it, many of them in national costume. The large banner proclaimed: “Bahá’í World Congress”. “What’s that ‘B’ word, Dad?” I asked. Luckily, my father knew what it was, because my mother’s best friend from her schooldays (Audrie Reynolds, née Rogers) had become a Bahá’í. Audrie was, of course, at the Congress, and met her husband there. Later that year, I attended their wedding… I never told Earl about this odd connection between our lives.
So, what happens now? Bahá’u’lláh states that “The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother. When the soul attaineth the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befitteth its immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation.” In other words, we move on into another world, another plane of existence.
Such a lovely man will surely make steady spiritual progress in the next world.
