Orlando Martins

Orlando Martins Biography

Orlando Martins (1899-1985) was a pioneering Nigerian film and stage actor. In the late 1940s, he was one of England's most prominent and leading "black" actors, and in a poll conducted in 1947, he was listed among England's top 15 favorite actors.

Life

Martins was born in Lagos, to a civil servant Brazilian father. He was related to the Benjamin Epega family. During World War I he served as a stoker on the RMS Mauretania to avenge German cruelty to his family.

Following the end of the war, he moved to England: on arrival in 1919 he joined Sanger's Circus and started his performing career in the chorus. He also worked as a wrestler (known as "Black Butcher Johnson")

Career

In 1920, Martins was an extra acting with the Diaghilev ballet company, and was on the tour with the British company of Show Boat as a professional singer. He was an extra in silent films, having made his debut in If Youth But Knew. In the 1930s he went into acting on the London stage, starring in among other things, Toussaint L'Ouverture, a 1936 play by C.L.R. James that starred the legendary Paul Robeson. Martins also featured with Robeson in the 1935 film Sanders of the River and Men of Two Worlds (1946) alongside Robert Adams.

Martins died at the age of 85 in Lagos and was buried at Ikoyi Cemetery.

Selected filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1935	Sanders of the River	Klova
1945	The Man from Morocco	Jeremiah
1946	Men of Two Worlds	Magole
1947	The End of the River	Harrigan
1949	The Hasty Heart	Blossom
1954	West of Zanzibar	M'Kwongi
1955	Simba	Headman
1956	Safari	Jerusalem
1957	Abandon Ship	Sam Holly
1957	Tarzan and the Lost Safari	Chief Ogonooro
1958	The Naked Earth	Tall Bearer
1959	Sapphire	Barman
1959	The Nuns Story	Kalulu
1960	Killers of Kilimanjaro	Chief	Chief
1963	Call me Bwana	Chief	Tribal Chief
1965	Mister Moses	Chief	Chief
1965	A Boy Ten Feet Tall	Abu Lubaba
1973	Kongi's Harvest	Dr. Gbenga

This webpage uses material from the Wikipedia article "Orlando_Martins" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions the Wikipedia article may contain.

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