Carmen Munroe
Encyclopedia
Carmen Munroe OBE
(born 12 November 1932) is a British
actress, born in Berbice
, Guyana
. Since the early 1950s she has been a resident of the UK. She made her West End stage debut in 1962 and has since played an instrumental role in the development of black British theatre and representation on small screen. She has had high-profile roles on television in The Fosters (1976–77), Mixed Blessings (1978–80) both on ITV
and on stage in Lorraine Hansberry
's A Raisin in the Sun
, Alice Childress
's Trouble in Mind and James Baldwin
's The Amen Corner.
She is however best known for her role as Shirley, the wife of eponymous barber Desmond Ambrose, played by Norman Beaton
, in the British TV sitcom Desmond's
(1989 to 1994), written by Trix Worrell
.
Some of her other roles include a part in the 1967 Doctor Who
story The Enemy of the World
; a part in General Hospital
; and she was for a time a presenter of Play School.
She is one of the founders of Talawa the UK's leading black theatre company, which she established in 1985 together with Mona Hammond
, Inigo Espegel and Yvonne Brewster
.
In 2005/06 she acted in a series of three African American
plays at the Tricycle Theatre
, Kilburn. The plays were Walk Hard written by Abram Hill and directed by Nicholas Kent, followed by Gem of the Ocean
written by August Wilson
and directed by Paulette Randall
where she acted in the role of Aunt Esther Tyler and finally Lynn Nottage
's Fabulation, directed by Indhu Rubasingham. Most recently, she acted in Allister Bain's
play Catalysta, directed by Robert Icke, receiving rave reviews for her performance as Eartha.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 12 November 1932) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actress, born in Berbice
Berbice
Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1815 a colony of the Netherlands. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom in the latter year, it was merged with Essequibo and Demerara to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831...
, 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...
. Since the early 1950s she has been a resident of the UK. She made her West End stage debut in 1962 and has since played an instrumental role in the development of black British theatre and representation on small screen. She has had high-profile roles on television in The Fosters (1976–77), Mixed Blessings (1978–80) both on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and on stage in Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays...
's A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
, Alice Childress
Alice Childress
Alice Childress was an American playwright, actor, and author.-Early life:Childress was born in South Carolina, but at age nine, after her parents separated, she moved to Harlem where she lived with her grandmother on 118th Street, between Lenox Avenue and Fifth Avenue...
's Trouble in Mind and James Baldwin
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
's The Amen Corner.
She is however best known for her role as Shirley, the wife of eponymous barber Desmond Ambrose, played by Norman Beaton
Norman Beaton
Norman Lugard Beaton was a Guyanese actor long resident in the United Kingdom....
, in the British TV sitcom 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...
(1989 to 1994), 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...
.
Some of her other roles include a part in the 1967 Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story The Enemy of the World
The Enemy of the World
The Enemy of the World is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which originally aired in six weekly parts from 23 December 1967 to 27 January 1968...
; a part in General Hospital
General Hospital (UK TV series)
General Hospital is a British daytime soap opera produced by ATV which ran on ITV from 1972 to 1979. It was modelled after the American drama of the same name....
; and she was for a time a presenter of Play School.
She is one of the founders of Talawa the UK's leading black theatre company, which she established in 1985 together with Mona Hammond
Mona Hammond
Mona Hammond OBE is a Chinese Jamaican actress and co-founder of the Talawa Theatre Company. Born in Jamaica, Hammond emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1959, where she has remained ever since. Hammond has had a long and distinguished stage career...
, Inigo Espegel and Yvonne Brewster
Yvonne Brewster
Yvonne Brewster, O.B.E. is a stage director, teacher and writer.Born in Jamaica, Yvonne Brewster went to the UK to study drama in the mid-fifties at the Rose Bruford College and the Royal Academy of Music...
.
In 2005/06 she acted in a series of three African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
plays at the Tricycle Theatre
Tricycle Theatre
The Tricycle Theatre is located on Kilburn High Road in Kilburn in the London Borough of Brent, England. During the last 30 years, the Tricycle has been presenting plays reflecting the cultural diversity of its community; in particular Black, Irish, Jewish, Asian and South African works, as well as...
, Kilburn. The plays were Walk Hard written by Abram Hill and directed by Nicholas Kent, followed by Gem of the Ocean
Gem of the Ocean
Gem of the Ocean is a play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the first installment of his decade-by-decade, ten-play chronicle, The Pittsburgh Cycle, dramatizing the African-American experience in the twentieth century.-Plot :...
written by August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
and directed by Paulette Randall
Paulette Randall
Paulette Randall, is a British theatre director. She chairs the board of the Clean Break Theatre Company, and is former artistic director of the Talawa Theatre Company.-Projects:Royal Court Theatre* Directed Blest be the Tie by Doña Daley...
where she acted in the role of Aunt Esther Tyler and finally Lynn Nottage
Lynn Nottage
Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of women of African descent, African Americans and women. She was born in Brooklyn and is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and a MacArthur Genius...
's Fabulation, directed by Indhu Rubasingham. Most recently, she acted in Allister Bain's
Allister Bain
Allister Bain is a Grenadian television and film actor and theatre playwright and screenwriter best known for playing the role of Winston Katusi in part 1 of the Doctor Who Christmas special, The End of Time.-Biography:...
play Catalysta, directed by Robert Icke, receiving rave reviews for her performance as Eartha.
Further reading
- Carole Woddis, Sheer Bloody Magic – Conversations With Actresses (London: Virago, 1991).