`Thunderball` actor Earl Cameron receives CBE

Veteran actor Earl Cameron receives a CBE for services to drama after a career spanning seven decades, reports the Birmingham Post.

The 91-year-old, from Kenilworth, Warwickshire, is set for his second meeting with her majesty after a role in the Helen Mirren movie The Queen two years ago.

Earl, best-known as one of the first black actors to break into UK mainstream entertainment, said he was ready to meet the real-life Queen.

He said: �I played an artist who painted Helen Mirren�s portrait in the Queen, so I have already had a trial run. It never occurred to me I would come up for any kind of award like this.�

Bermudan Earl arrived in Britain aged 22 as the Second World War broke out, and his big break came in Ealing�s Pool of London film about a diamond robbery in 1950.

The role, in which Earl became the first black British actor to star in a feature film, sparked the beginning of a movie, theatre and TV career that has lasted almost 70 years.

Earl�s popularity on the big and small screen has seen him star with actors including Sean Connery in Bond movie Thunderball, and Richard Attenborough and his friend Sidney Poitier in the 1973 film A Warm December.

The father-of-five has become a recognisable face on TV, with parts on cult shows Doctor Who, Dangerman and The Prisoner in the 60s.

Earl took a break in 1979 when he moved to the Solomon Islands but returned to the UK in 1994.

He moved to Warwickshire with second wife Barbara four years ago and has made regular appearances on TV shows such as Casualty and Dalziel and Pascoe. Earl�s most recent film work includes the role of fictional dictator Edward Zuwanie in The Interpreter in 2005.

Thanks to `Allen` for the alert.

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