Harry Baird(1931-2005)
- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Cast in a number of racially-motivated British films during the 1950s
and 1960s, actor Harry Baird was born in Georgetown, Guyana (then
called British Guiana) on May 12, 1931 and received his education both
in Canada and England.
Famed director Carol Reed gave Harry his film break
in 1954 at age 23 when he cast the actor in the smallish role of a
black boxer named Jamaica in A Kid for Two Farthings (1955), a tale that dealt with the tense
ethnic struggles of London's East End. A year later Harry made a minor
stage bow in the musical "Kismet" at the Stoll theatre in London.
Although he continued sporadically before live audiences, including a
role in Jean Genet's "The Blacks" in 1961, his stronger focus would be
in the cinema and on TV where he often took to stunt work just to keep
himself in front of the lens.
His first lead on TV was as Rhodes Reason's
bearer, Atimbu, in the low-budget White Hunter (1957) adventure series. Moviegoers
first took notice of Harry, however, with his stirring portrayal of a
young black brutalized by the police in the film Sapphire (1959), a role that
helped him continue into the next decade. Extremely good-looking and
physically fit, he rarely managed to attain leads, primarily due to the
lack of parts at the time for men of his race. He did find regular
supporting roles on TV, however, including the series Secret Agent (1964) and the
science-fiction program UFO (1970).
As jobs grew scarce into the 60s Harry
traveled to other parts of Europe, especially Italy and France, to find
work. Some were even leads or co-leads. He played well-muscled action
heroes in a handful of Italian spectacles and "spaghetti" westerns and
scored a personal triumph in France with first-time director Melvin Van Peebles'
landmark low-budget film The Story of a Three Day Pass (1967), in which he starred as a black
American GI who falls in love with a white French girl (played by the
late Nicole Berger) while on leave in Paris. Sadly, Ms. Berger was killed in
a car accident shortly after filming the movie.
Other films around this
time included Bryan Forbes' classic The Whisperers (1967) starring Edith Evans, The Touchables (1968), in
which the athletic actor played a gay wrestler named "Lillywhite," the Edgar Allan
Poe adaptation The Oblong Box (1969) with Vincent Price, and friend Michael Caine's picture
The Italian Job (1969). In the 1970s Harry was diagnosed with glaucoma.
He was forced to retire as the impairment worsened and he eventually went completely
blind. He remained upbeat and positive in later years as he adapted to
his handicap and took classes on film history among other interests. He
was married and divorced and survived by a stepdaughter when he died of
cancer at age 73 in London on February 13, 2005.
and 1960s, actor Harry Baird was born in Georgetown, Guyana (then
called British Guiana) on May 12, 1931 and received his education both
in Canada and England.
Famed director Carol Reed gave Harry his film break
in 1954 at age 23 when he cast the actor in the smallish role of a
black boxer named Jamaica in A Kid for Two Farthings (1955), a tale that dealt with the tense
ethnic struggles of London's East End. A year later Harry made a minor
stage bow in the musical "Kismet" at the Stoll theatre in London.
Although he continued sporadically before live audiences, including a
role in Jean Genet's "The Blacks" in 1961, his stronger focus would be
in the cinema and on TV where he often took to stunt work just to keep
himself in front of the lens.
His first lead on TV was as Rhodes Reason's
bearer, Atimbu, in the low-budget White Hunter (1957) adventure series. Moviegoers
first took notice of Harry, however, with his stirring portrayal of a
young black brutalized by the police in the film Sapphire (1959), a role that
helped him continue into the next decade. Extremely good-looking and
physically fit, he rarely managed to attain leads, primarily due to the
lack of parts at the time for men of his race. He did find regular
supporting roles on TV, however, including the series Secret Agent (1964) and the
science-fiction program UFO (1970).
As jobs grew scarce into the 60s Harry
traveled to other parts of Europe, especially Italy and France, to find
work. Some were even leads or co-leads. He played well-muscled action
heroes in a handful of Italian spectacles and "spaghetti" westerns and
scored a personal triumph in France with first-time director Melvin Van Peebles'
landmark low-budget film The Story of a Three Day Pass (1967), in which he starred as a black
American GI who falls in love with a white French girl (played by the
late Nicole Berger) while on leave in Paris. Sadly, Ms. Berger was killed in
a car accident shortly after filming the movie.
Other films around this
time included Bryan Forbes' classic The Whisperers (1967) starring Edith Evans, The Touchables (1968), in
which the athletic actor played a gay wrestler named "Lillywhite," the Edgar Allan
Poe adaptation The Oblong Box (1969) with Vincent Price, and friend Michael Caine's picture
The Italian Job (1969). In the 1970s Harry was diagnosed with glaucoma.
He was forced to retire as the impairment worsened and he eventually went completely
blind. He remained upbeat and positive in later years as he adapted to
his handicap and took classes on film history among other interests. He
was married and divorced and survived by a stepdaughter when he died of
cancer at age 73 in London on February 13, 2005.