As we approach our nation’s golden milestone and celebrate our achievements, I take a look at four children of the soil who have gone abroad and shone brilliantly.
For a tiny nation, Trinidad and Tobago has achieved a considerable amount on a global scale. One thing that can be said about us is that we have a vast wealth of talent in every corner of our twin islands. Today I pay tribute to four talented countrymen who left our shores and made an impression on the international scene. Of these, two I know personally, one I was honoured to be introduced to and the other I wish I had the opportunity to meet.
Geoffrey
Geoffrey Holder – actor, choreographer, director, dancer, painter, costume designer, singer and voice-over talent – is a tour de force. Born in Port of Spain in 1930, he left Trinidad in the 50’s to pursue a career abroad in dance. He conquered more than the dance world. He was the principal dancer at the Metropolitan Ballet in New York. He choreographed for numerous leading dance companies. In 1975 he won two Tony Awards for Direction and Costume Design for The Wiz, the all black musical version of The Wizard of Oz. He was the first black person to be nominated in either category.
Goeffrey also appeared in numerous films, most notably as Willie Shakespeare in Dr. Doolittle (1967) and as henchman Baron Samendi in the 1973 James Bond movie Live and Let Die.
Numerous times in the 70’s and 80’s he appeared as the spokesman for the 7 Up “Uncola” advertising campaign where he regularly displayed his robust laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tAiEFhNHZk
Jacqui
Jacqui Chan (not Jackie Chan the action movie star) cousin of local painter Carlisle Chang, has worked in numerous theatre and film productions She now resides in London where she continues to work as an actress on stage and screen. Moments of note is her performance in the 1957 movie The World of Suzie Wong which starred then Hollywood leading man William Holden (full movie on Youtube), her appearance alongside Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra (1963) and Krakatoa: East of Java in 1969 (Geoffrey Holder also appears in this film). When I last spoke with Jacqui a few years ago, she still lived in London where she is busy in the theatre circuit and mentioned that the latest film she worked in was a Jean Claude Van Damme picture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqhj1Ht29HI
Renee
Renee Castle was a popular name on the local stage appearing in numerous Raymond Choo Kong Productions. She now resides in London where she is making a name for herself in the theatre. Her highlights include appearing in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s update of his Jesus Christ Superstar in the role of Mary Magdelene and on television in the US in an episode of the remake of Kojak a few years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcj_KTU5IGc
Winifred
I never met Una Winifred Atwell but she is definitely worth mentioning. Born in Tunapuna in the early 1900’s, she was a world renowned ragtime and boogie woogie pianist who conquered that genre. From her early days, her brilliance was evident. At the Royal Academy of Music in England where she studied in the late 1940’s, she became the first female pianist to be awarded the Academy’s highest grading for musicianship. She later went on to a hugely successful career. In England, she was the first black person to have a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart and is still the only female instrumentalist to do so. She is the only holder of two gold and two silver discs for piano music in Britain and was the first black artist in the UK to sell a million records. She performed in ever capital city in Europe and even had her own television series in England and Australia which were quite popular. In 1955 her tour of Australia broke box office records with her fee being US $5,000 per week which in today’s currency would be around US $50,000 per week. She was the highest paid star from a Commonwealth country up to that time. In fact her hands were insured with LLoyds of London for a quarter of a million dollars. She was on her way to extend her fame in America, however, issues of race prevented such. She died in 1983 in Australia which she had by then made her home.
Of course there are many others who have and continue to make us proud internationally. I salute them all.
* Some source material for this blog was obtained from Wikipedia.
