Norman Beaton
Encyclopedia
Norman Lugard Beaton was a Guyanese
actor long resident in the United Kingdom.
Beaton attended Queen's College in Guyana until he was expelled for truancy and bad grades. He was given a second chance at the Government Teachers' Training College and graduated with distinction. Beaton taught and played with the calypso
band The Four Bees before leaving Guyana for London
in 1960.
, becoming the first black teacher to be employed by the Liverpool Education Authority. Beaton became increasingly unhappy with his work as a teacher and began writing plays, his first play being the musical Jack of Spades, which was about the doomed relationship between a black man and a white woman, quite controversial at that time. The moderate success of this play gave Beaton enough confidence to give up teaching and to concentrate on the theatre. He moved first to Bristol
and then to Sussex
where he played the leading role in a musical he had written, Sit Down, Banna at the Connaught Theatre. This was the beginning of his acting career.
in Shakespeare's
The Tempest
, which he described in his autobiography as "the most important role of my acting career". In 1975, he helped to establish the Black Theatre of Brixton
. In 1975 Beaton played Nanki-Poo in The Black Mikado
, a modern version of Gilbert and Sullivan
's The Mikado
. In 1976, Beaton broke into television in the series The Fosters
, which also featured a young Lenny Henry
, and the following year played the lead role in a low-budget independent film about a West Indian community in London, Black Joy
; he also appeared in the BBC series Empire Road
. However, it was his six year run (starting in 1988) in Channel Four's Desmond's
, (written by Trix Worrell
) as the title character, that would become his best known role. For Desmond's Beaton received the Royal Television Society
Best Comedy Performer Award.
He played the lead role of Willie Boy in the 1987 comedy Playing Away
about a West Indian cricket team invited to play a rural white team. He appeared as a guest on The Cosby Show
in 1991 (episode: "There's Still No Joy in Mudville"), and in Little Napoleons
. He also appeared in several movies including The Mighty Quinn (1989). After years of hard living began taking its toll on his health, he retired to Guyana
in 1994 (just as his character in Desmond's was doing the same), where he collapsed at the airport and died a few hours later at the age of 60. He is survived by five children from three marriages.
grand daughter - Mica Beaton
With Jane Atto
M. Leah Garady (1976-?)
Beaton formed a more lasting relationship with Jane Cash in 1978.
His father William Solomon Beaton died in 1983, and his Mother Ada Beaton (née
Mackintosh) died in 1962.
Radio Drama have founded the Norman Beaton Fellowship (NBF) to "broaden the range of actors available to Radio Drama producers across the UK by encouraging applicants from non-traditional training backgrounds".
It was announced in the spin-off show of Desmonds called Porkpie that his character, Desmond, had died in the previous year.
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...
actor long resident in the United Kingdom.
Beaton attended Queen's College in Guyana until he was expelled for truancy and bad grades. He was given a second chance at the Government Teachers' Training College and graduated with distinction. Beaton taught and played with the calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
band The Four Bees before leaving Guyana for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1960.
Early career
Beaton developed a parallel career as a Calypso singer, scoring a no. 1 hit in Trinidad and Tobago with 'Come Back Melvina' in 1959. He then obtained a post in the shipping department of a bookshop until his wife and children arrived in London in 1960. He then became a teacher in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, becoming the first black teacher to be employed by the Liverpool Education Authority. Beaton became increasingly unhappy with his work as a teacher and began writing plays, his first play being the musical Jack of Spades, which was about the doomed relationship between a black man and a white woman, quite controversial at that time. The moderate success of this play gave Beaton enough confidence to give up teaching and to concentrate on the theatre. He moved first to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and then to Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
where he played the leading role in a musical he had written, Sit Down, Banna at the Connaught Theatre. This was the beginning of his acting career.
Success
In the early 1970s, Beaton began to perform in plays in London's West End. In 1970 he played the role of ArielAriel (The Tempest)
Ariel is a spirit who appears in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Ariel is bound to serve the magician Prospero, who rescued him from the tree in which he was imprisoned by Sycorax, the witch who previously inhabited the island. Prospero greets disobedience with a reminder that he saved...
in Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
, which he described in his autobiography as "the most important role of my acting career". In 1975, he helped to establish the Black Theatre of Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
. In 1975 Beaton played Nanki-Poo in The Black Mikado
The Black Mikado
The Black Mikado is a musical comedy, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, adapted by Janos Bajtala, George Larnyoh and Eddie Quansah from W. S. Gilbert's original 1885 libretto and Arthur Sullivan's score. The show premiered on 24 April 1975 at the Cambridge Theatre in London, where it ran...
, a modern version of Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
. In 1976, Beaton broke into television in the series The Fosters
The Fosters
The Fosters is a British sitcom, produced by London Weekend Television which aired on ITV from 9 April 1976, until 9 July 1977.It was created and developed by Jon Watkins, who adapted the American sitcom, Good Times, developed by Norman Lear, and created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans...
, which also featured a young Lenny Henry
Lenny Henry
Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
, and the following year played the lead role in a low-budget independent film about a West Indian community in London, Black Joy
Black Joy (1977 film)
Black Joy is a British film released in 1977, directed by Anthony Simmons. The story of an immigrant country boy in Brixton, London, it has been described as the UK's only example of a "Blaxploitation" movie, a genre more familiar in the United States. It was entered into the 1977 Cannes Film...
; he also appeared in the BBC series Empire Road
Empire Road
Empire Road is a British television series, made by the BBC in 1978 and 1979.The series was the first British television series to be written, acted and directed entirely by black artists...
. However, it was his six year run (starting in 1988) in Channel Four's Desmond's
Desmond's
Desmond's is a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. The first series was shot in 1988, with the first episode broadcast in January 1989...
, (written by Trix Worrell
Trix Worrell
Trix Worrell writer, composer and director, was born in St. Lucia in the West Indies in 1960, and came to England at the age of five. As a teenager he worked with the Albany Theatre in South London, where he wrote and directed his first play, School's Out, in 1980...
) as the title character, that would become his best known role. For Desmond's Beaton received the Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
Best Comedy Performer Award.
He played the lead role of Willie Boy in the 1987 comedy Playing Away
Playing Away
Playing Away was a 1987 TV comedy about two cricket teams. The English team, fictitiously named Sneddington invited a team of West Indian heritage based in Brixton to play a charity game in support of their “Third World Week.”Starring in the program were:*Norman Beaton*Nicholas Farrell*Brian...
about a West Indian cricket team invited to play a rural white team. He appeared as a guest on The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
in 1991 (episode: "There's Still No Joy in Mudville"), and in Little Napoleons
Little Napoleons
Little Napoleons was a 1994 British television serial starring Saeed Jaffrey, Norman Beaton, Simon Callow and Lesley Manville as four politicians involved in local council elections. Beaton and Jaffrey played rival Labour candidates while Callow was their Conservative colleague....
. He also appeared in several movies including The Mighty Quinn (1989). After years of hard living began taking its toll on his health, he retired to 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...
in 1994 (just as his character in Desmond's was doing the same), where he collapsed at the airport and died a few hours later at the age of 60. He is survived by five children from three marriages.
Personal life
M. Gloria Moshette (1958-?)- Jayme Beaton (b. 1958, British Guiana)
- Kim Beaton (b. 1960, British Guiana)
- Jeremy Beaton (b. 1962, England)
- Norman Beaton Jr (b. 1964, England) married with Marie-Agnes André
grand daughter - Mica Beaton
With Jane Atto
- William (b. 1969, England)
M. Leah Garady (1976-?)
- (Leah adopted Beaton's children of his first marriage)
Beaton formed a more lasting relationship with Jane Cash in 1978.
His father William Solomon Beaton died in 1983, and his Mother Ada Beaton (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Mackintosh) died in 1962.
Legacy
BBCBBC
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...
Radio Drama have founded the Norman Beaton Fellowship (NBF) to "broaden the range of actors available to Radio Drama producers across the UK by encouraging applicants from non-traditional training backgrounds".
Death
It was published that the actor had flown back to his home country of Guyana when he collapsed at the airport of natural causes on 13 December 1994.It was announced in the spin-off show of Desmonds called Porkpie that his character, Desmond, had died in the previous year.