Career
He has had a long and varied career, but is best known for appearing on British television, in particular the British Broadcasting Corporation soap opera EastEnders, where he played original character, Tony Carpenter, for over two years. James resides in north London. James came from a poor upbringing in Trinidad to England in the 1950s.
He initially worked as a taxi driver, a dish-washer and also a gymnast, but he always had aspirations to be an entertainer and followed his dream by becoming an actor.
Roles for black actors were sparse during James" early career, but he persevered to become the fourth black actor to join the Royal Shakespeare Company and the first black actor to play Macbeth. In 1972 he co-founded with fellow actor Alton Kumalo the first black British theatre company, Temba (the name derived from the Zulu word for "hope"), initially to produce new black writing from Britain and South Africa.
Temba staged the first British production of Athol Fugard"s Sizwe Bansi is Dead. James had early roles in television programmes such as Softly, Softly (1966).
Love Thy Neighbour (1975).
Quiller (1975). Till Death Us Do Participant (1975);Gangsters (1976). Angels (1976); The Professionals.
Out (1978); Minder (1979).
Shoestring (1980) and The Gentle Touch (1984). However, he is best known for his role as Tony Carpenter in the British Broadcasting Corporation television soap opera EastEnders. James was one of the original cast members, appearing in the series from its debut in 1985 until 1987.
During this period, he attracted controversy for publicly criticizing the British Broadcasting Corporation for not promoting black or other ethnic minority actors with starring roles in their programmes.
He stated, "The powers that be do not think I am interesting enough. How often do you see Paul J. Medford publicised?..It"s as though the British Broadcasting Corporation are playing us down.
I can"t believe the white majority of the public are against blacks being stars. They don"t give a damn." Other television credits include: Minder in the Series 1 episode "Come in T-64, Your Time Is Ticking Away" (1979), Casualty (1996), Lovejoy (1994), London"s Burning (2002), Doctors (2002.
2005), The Bill (2006), Crocodile Shoes II (2006), The Lincolnshire of Beauty (2006), Holby City (2006), Dream Team (2002), Afterlife (2005) and the television drama Angel Cake (2006).
He has also appeared in several films, including the 1977 film Black Joy, where he played loan shark Jomo, and the 2005 Tim Burton adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where he played the shopkeeper in whose shop Charlie Bucket finds the final Golden Ticket. In 2004 James played Herbert in Oxford Road: the Story, a radio play in which he worked alongside Doña Croll, an actress with whom he had previously worked on Kwame Kwei-Armah"s play Elmina"s Kitchen at the National Theatre. Elmina"s Kitchen was adapted into a British Broadcasting Corporation Four televised film in 2005, in which James also starred.
