If this ever comes into being it will mean not only that Negro talent in every theatre art can be shown to the world, but a continuity of employment for this talent which is now going sadly to waste.
—Peter Noble via THE NEGRO IN FILMS, 1948
These are the words describing "one of Britain's most sought-after character actors" . . . Orlando Martins.
We hear the words "trailblazers" and "pioneers" in association with a good number of individuals, particularly during a certain awareness month or day. But today, I'd like to add—rather, broaden—that company to include Mr. Martins in the narrative, and I hope Mr. Martins would not mind the inclusion by way of this blog piece.
An inclusion into the field of acting, stemmed from a passion and drive in life very early on.
Born Emmanuel Alhamdu Martins to Emmanuel Akinola Martins and Paula Idowu Soares-Martins, an elite Black Nigerian family of the then Victorian Lagos, young Emmanuel later adopted the nickname "Orlando" from high school (admitted into Eko Boys High School in 1913, given the nickname "Orlando Frigado," thus, "Orlando" was born).
But my father often resented this name, saying that he had no son called Orlando. |
—Orlando Martins
With an upbringing that was not without its own struggles . . . a paternal grandfather—a freed Portuguese slave—who sold wood (living 120 years!), Orlando was filled with his grandfather's stories of his years as a slave. However, Orlando's father, feeling his son too pampered, sent Orlando to live with his aunt (his father's sister) in Abeokuta, Ogun, where his grandmother too lived, and a life Orlando recalled:
“Soon after my arrival in Abeokuta, my aunty did not disguise her wickedness. I was being frequently accused of wetting the mats at night and snoring in my sleep. For each offence [offense], I was wakened from my sleep with thorough whipping.”
It was through a recurring cycle of "unbearable" events—avoiding poisonous snakes and reptiles nightly upon his walk home from selling his grandmother's hand-woven textiles in villages located miles away—he found a way to smuggle a letter to his mother back in Lagos to disclose the dealings at the hands of his aunt leading to a "rescue mission" of sorts conducted by him and his mother "to board the train at different entrances of two different carriages of the train at Lafenwa Railway station" where Orlando was able to hide and emerge after arriving at Ifo station beside his mother and on to Lagos all within the same day!
“Soon after my arrival in Abeokuta, my aunty did not disguise her wickedness. I was being frequently accused of wetting the mats at night and snoring in my sleep. For each offence [offense], I was wakened from my sleep with thorough whipping.”
It was through a recurring cycle of "unbearable" events—avoiding poisonous snakes and reptiles nightly upon his walk home from selling his grandmother's hand-woven textiles in villages located miles away—he found a way to smuggle a letter to his mother back in Lagos to disclose the dealings at the hands of his aunt leading to a "rescue mission" of sorts conducted by him and his mother "to board the train at different entrances of two different carriages of the train at Lafenwa Railway station" where Orlando was able to hide and emerge after arriving at Ifo station beside his mother and on to Lagos all within the same day!
All of these experiences possibly molded and, in turn, nurtured the ingredients into creating the tools of becoming an actor, as Martins was not "trained" in the traditional sense of schooling that took place in a building as much as the schooling that took place in the form and survival of life.
A once Merchant Marine, in his teen years, when through a variation of events and trials, Martins traveled from his hometown of Lagos, Nigeria to London during World War I, where he was rejected from joining the British Navy—a voyage initially sparked after his maternal grandmother (a trader in Cameroun) became a POW when she became trapped inside the war territory, unable to cross the Niger, and taken by the Germans into a German camp in 1917. Leading Martins to give up his job and volunteer on a mission to help, "to avenge the ill treatment suffered by his grandmother"—spawned into acting when his first opportunity on stage presented itself by way of The Diaghilev Ballet's arrival in London where Martins "made an early theatrical appearance in 1920 when the Diaghilev Ballet, led by Anna Pavlova, arrived in London and recruited Orlando to appear as Nubian slave."
A role Martins would later recall as one of which he "hated the part of a Nubian slave, but as I was young and hungry, I had no other choice." |
An actor who—outside the classic film community—is rarely, if ever, heard of, referenced, or mentioned (at least through my lens) in the discussion of cinema.
An actor who (like other fellow Black actors of the time) had much more to offer, showcase, and contribute in the way of performing broader roles, but was continually recycled in the more stereotypical roles and characters of the time. Limiting an advancement in showcasing their range of roles, representations, and stories outside the box, leading some Black actors and storytellers to only become more creative in exposing their talents. An example seen in the vision and undertakings filmmakers such as Oscar Micheaux and Spencer Williams pioneered to express.
Martins had such natural talents that, unfortunately, outside a few films such as GOOD TIME GIRL (1948), as "Kolly," starring Jean Kent, Dennis Price, and Herbert Lom, with Diana Dors as "Lyla Lawrence" or SAPPHIRE (1959), as the barman, starring Nigel Patrick, Yvonne Mitchell, and Black actor Earl Cameron as "Dr. Robbins", did not allow him outside a stereotype, despite such execution in his work:
An actor who (like other fellow Black actors of the time) had much more to offer, showcase, and contribute in the way of performing broader roles, but was continually recycled in the more stereotypical roles and characters of the time. Limiting an advancement in showcasing their range of roles, representations, and stories outside the box, leading some Black actors and storytellers to only become more creative in exposing their talents. An example seen in the vision and undertakings filmmakers such as Oscar Micheaux and Spencer Williams pioneered to express.
Martins had such natural talents that, unfortunately, outside a few films such as GOOD TIME GIRL (1948), as "Kolly," starring Jean Kent, Dennis Price, and Herbert Lom, with Diana Dors as "Lyla Lawrence" or SAPPHIRE (1959), as the barman, starring Nigel Patrick, Yvonne Mitchell, and Black actor Earl Cameron as "Dr. Robbins", did not allow him outside a stereotype, despite such execution in his work:
—extract from The Cinema Studio, October 1951
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I was recently asked (along with other classic film fans) if I would like to participate in Erica's (@ThePoppity's Poppity Talks Classic Film – Happily Stuck in a Black & White and Technicolor Timewarp (wordpress.com)) "Party Like It's 1899" Blogathon "to celebrate the lives and works of those Old Hollywood players who were born in the year 1899" (Announcing the Party Like It’s 1899 Blogathon – Poppity Talks Classic Film (wordpress.com)).
Upon receiving the tagged invite, I immediately thought of all the Black film contributors in the early stages of cinema who never seem to receive the voice extension more commonly year-round, outside of Black History Month, as others do, including Orlando Martins, born December 8, 1899!
Upon receiving the tagged invite, I immediately thought of all the Black film contributors in the early stages of cinema who never seem to receive the voice extension more commonly year-round, outside of Black History Month, as others do, including Orlando Martins, born December 8, 1899!
A name in the world of cinema that today does not seem to get as recognized for his contribution to cinema, no matter the context, as some of the actors he shared the film titles with.
Victor Mature (SAFARI (1956))
Audrey Hepburn (THE NUN STORY (1959))
Dirk Bogarde (SIMBA (1955))
Tyrone Power (ABANDON SHIP aka SEVEN WAVES AWAY (1957))
Bob Hope (CALL ME BWANA (1953))
. . . or possibly Orlando Martins most "known for" film with Richard Todd, Patricia Neal, and, well, yes, Ronald Reagan . . . THE HASTY HEART (1949), whom, for me, Orlando Martins character, named "Blossom" in the film, as much as Richard Todd's "Lachlan MacLachlan" character, I feel most sympathetic with when watching the film, and is also the film that sparked my awareness of Martins as an actor and, in turn, the man himself, as it was THE HASTY HEART that introduced Martins to me somewhere in the teen years of my classic film watching journey—a journey that grabbed hold of me, really, long before I can remember, hearing stories of myself connecting to the screen whenever a rerun of I LOVE LUCY came onscreen (you too?! *fist bump*), and my early memories as a child—somewhere during my elementary school years—watching SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES (1942), starring Betty Grable, with my mom.
Awarded an honorary life membership "in recognition of his long career in British films" by the British Actors' Equity Association in 1970; included in Nigeria's honors list in 1981; receiving the medal of 'Membership of the Order of the Niger' (MON) from President Alhaji Shehu Shagari during a ceremony attended by Martins in February of 1982; and presented with the National Award in Theatre Arts by the Society of Nigerian Theatre Artistes in 1983 during a ceremony held at the University of Calabar, THE HASTY HEART (1949) might be the film that comes to mind foremost when you think of or see Orlando Martins, but he contributed to cinema and held a host of jobs (at times being jobless between), including becoming a bookkeeper when he left high school in 1916—acting and otherwise—beforehand:
He was a porter at Billingsgate fish market; a wrestler known as 'Black Butcher Johnson'; a snake-charmer with Lord John Sanger's Circus; night watchman; kitchen porter; road sweeper; and, after making his debut in If Youth But Knew (1926), an extra in silent films. |
—Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television Second Edition by Stephen Bourne, 2005
Ugandan actress Esther Makumbi and co-star Orlando Martins stand at the gate of a house Esther rented in Watford, England (dated as October 11, 1945).
Esther caption here as staying at the house then while working on the Two Cities Technicolor film (along with Martins), MEN OF TWO WORLDS (1946), at Denham Film Studios nearby.
Martins contribution—a word I use frequently in this piece intentionally, to include his efforts in striving to create an equal platform for Blacks in the industry, that should be more recognized and known not just in Black cinema but cinema itself—to the history of cinema as a Black actor, an actor, and as a human being as he fought, protested, and stood up to the indignities he witnessed and experienced firsthand against "Black Africans by White service and movie personnel. . ." (COLOR, CULTURE, CIVILIZATION: Race and Minority Issues in American Society by Stanford M. Lyman, 1995), Martins himself was barred from where his fellow castmates were housed and entertained at Cairo's Norfolk Hotel and Bar . . . "first routed to a local schoolteacher's home and then moved to a roadside inn."
His continued effort to stand up for equality is evident during the filming of IVORY HUNTER (1951), starring Anthony Steel and Dinah Sheridan, (aka WHERE NO VULTURES FLY), where Martins was the only actor not invited to the Royal Command Performance of the film back in London. A film where Martins refused to come onto set "unless the all-White South African crew discontinued its contemptuous treatment of the colored members of the cast and staff."
The same uninvited treatment would occur during the production of the film's sequel WEST OF ZANZIBAR (1954), again starring Anthony Steel, this time opposite Sheila Sim-Attenborough (The Lady Attenborough; wife of Richard Attenborough), where Martins was not invited to the cast and crew party held by Zanzibar's Colonial Resident, not to dismiss the incident where Martins threatened to burn down a restaurant when a bartender refused to serve him a drink. (COLOR, CULTURE, CIVILIZATION: Race and Minority Issues in American Society by Stanford M. Lyman, 1995)
A seemingly constant battle it was for Martins through the years. Yet, he continued to speak out. Sparking a challenge that should be remembered, though it did not play out as clearly as his intention in protest was voiced when his and the other Black African actors' names were not included on the lobby posters for IVORY HUNTER. Martin protested. Advocating for their names to appear along with their White cast members. A challenge that was met with minor but definite success, resulting in their names being included—though in a manner where their names were so small, "that one has to strain one's eyes to be able to read them."
His continued effort to stand up for equality is evident during the filming of IVORY HUNTER (1951), starring Anthony Steel and Dinah Sheridan, (aka WHERE NO VULTURES FLY), where Martins was the only actor not invited to the Royal Command Performance of the film back in London. A film where Martins refused to come onto set "unless the all-White South African crew discontinued its contemptuous treatment of the colored members of the cast and staff."
The same uninvited treatment would occur during the production of the film's sequel WEST OF ZANZIBAR (1954), again starring Anthony Steel, this time opposite Sheila Sim-Attenborough (The Lady Attenborough; wife of Richard Attenborough), where Martins was not invited to the cast and crew party held by Zanzibar's Colonial Resident, not to dismiss the incident where Martins threatened to burn down a restaurant when a bartender refused to serve him a drink. (COLOR, CULTURE, CIVILIZATION: Race and Minority Issues in American Society by Stanford M. Lyman, 1995)
A seemingly constant battle it was for Martins through the years. Yet, he continued to speak out. Sparking a challenge that should be remembered, though it did not play out as clearly as his intention in protest was voiced when his and the other Black African actors' names were not included on the lobby posters for IVORY HUNTER. Martin protested. Advocating for their names to appear along with their White cast members. A challenge that was met with minor but definite success, resulting in their names being included—though in a manner where their names were so small, "that one has to strain one's eyes to be able to read them."
There is a film worth referencing as a film to seek out . . . THE MAN FROM MOROCCO (1945), starring Anton Walbrook, with Martins in the role of "Jeremiah." Notable as that:
[Jeremiah] was shown to be a courageous fighter, an intelligent speaker and a good friend; he has a number of important scenes with the Czech captain, played by Anton Walbrook, and in every way is treated as an honoured member of a gallant body. Nowhere is there any reference to his colour, or any sort of discrimination indicated. —Peter Noble via THE NEGRO IN FILMS, 1948
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An opportunity that could have advanced so much more potential in the direction of roles being of level ground, where a man can play a role as a role, without race being a factor, or race having to be the narrative of the film in which to be included, history shows us, it was not to be so for the time.
Before moving back to Lagos in 1959 permanently—where he went into semi-retirement (passing away in 1985 at the age of 85)—making his last onscreen appearance in the 1971 feature film THINGS FALL APART, Martins's acting did overflow from screen to stage to television, in the form of the roles of (but not limited to):
"Stephen Kumalo" (the father of Absalom) in the stage adaptation of South African writer Alan Paton's 1948 novel of the same name, CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY at the Trafalgar Square Theatre in 1954, a role portrayed by Canada Lee opposite Sir Sidney Poitier in the 1951 film, reprising the role on ITV's "Play of the Week"
THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING at the Royal Court Theatre in 1957 as "T.T. Williams" (also on TV in an episode of BBC's THEATRE NIGHT)
BBC's "Sunday-Night Theatre" live series in the 1958 TV adaptation of THE GREEN PASTURES as "King of Babylon"
And as "Jim" in the 1952 TV adaptation of BBC’s HUCKLEBERRY FINN
Mediums, regardless of what stereotypes or typecasting Martins may have faced, should highlight an actor who strived for a better representation of future actors of color than when he embarked upon it himself.
An actor ... Orlando Martins.
Sources and suggested readings:
• Orlando Martins, the Legend: An Intimate Biography of the First World Acclaimed African Film Actor by Takiu Folami, 1983 • Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television Second Edition by Stephen Bourne, 2005 • COLOR, CULTURE, CIVILIZATION: Race and Minority Issues in American Society by Stanford M. Lyman, 1995 • HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING: About Orlando Martins – Orlando Martins, The Legend – First World Acclaimed African Film Actor (wordpress.com) |
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