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Louis Mahoney

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Louis Mahoney
Born
Louis Felix Danner Mahoney

8 September 1938
The Gambia
Died28 June 2020 (aged 81)
London
OccupationActor
Years active1962–2020

Louis Felix Danner Mahoney (/ˈluːiːməˈhoʊni/; 8 September 1938 – 28 June 2020)[1][2][3] was a Gambian-born British actor, based in Hampstead in London.[4] He was an anti-racist activist and long-time campaigner for racial equality within the acting profession.[5] He represented African-Asian members on the council of the actors' union, Equity, becoming joint Vice-President between 1994 and 1996.[6]

Career

Mahoney was born in The Gambia in 1938. In the late 1950s he went to England originally to study to be a doctor but abandoned his ambitions for a medical career to become a drama school student at the (now Royal) Central School of Speech and Drama in the 1960s.[7][6]

After graduating, Mahoney worked with Colchester Rep and The Mercury Theatre before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 - he was one of the first black actors in the Company.[8] He worked regularly on the stage throughout his career including shows at the National Theatre, Young Vic, Royal Court, Almeida and his final stage performances were in Alan Bennett's Allelujah! at the Bridge Theatre in 2018.

He helped found Performers Against Racism in the 1980s to campaign against apartheid in South Africa and was Joint Vice President of Equity between 1994 and 1996.

He had been seen most frequently on television in series such as: Danger Man, Dixon of Dock Green, Z-Cars, The Troubleshooters, Menace, Special Branch, Doctor Who (in the stories Frontier in Space, Planet of Evil and Blink), Quiller, Fawlty Towers (as Dr Finn in The Germans, 1975), The Professionals (as Dr Henry in the episode Klansmen, never transmitted on terrestrial TV in the UK, and in ‘Black Out’ again as a doctor), Miss Marple, Yes, Prime Minister, Bergerac, The Bill, Casualty, Holby City and Sea of Souls.[9]

His films included The Plague of the Zombies (1966), Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981), Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981), White Mischief (1987), Cry Freedom (1987), Shooting Fish (1997), Wondrous Oblivion (2003) and Shooting Dogs (2005).[10]

He featured in the Channel 4 documentary Random (2011) and in the BBC Three drama Being Human (2012) as Leo, an aged and dying werewolf.[11]

Mahoney's last TV appearance was in the Tracy Beaker CBBC spin-off, The Dumping Ground, as Henry Lawrence, the grandfather of Charlie Morris (Emily Burnett).

For decades a resident in Hampstead,[12] Mahoney died on 28 June 2020, aged 81.[13]

Campaign work

Mahoney was a long-standing campaigner for racial equality within the acting profession, as a member of the Equity Afro-Asian Committee (previously called the Coloured Actors Committee until he renamed it), founding Performers Against Racism to defend Equity policy on South Africa,[6] and as co-creator, with Mike Phillips and Taiwo Ajai, of the Black Theatre Workshop in 1976.[5][14]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1964 Guns at Batasi Soldier Uncredited
1965 Curse of Simba African expert
1966 The Plague of the Zombies Coloured Servant
1967 Prehistoric Women Head Boy
1970 Praise Marx and Pass the Ammunition Julius
1973 Live and Let Die Fillet of Soul Patron (New York) Uncredited
Doctor Who Newscaster 2 episodes, Frontier in Space
1974 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? Frank 1 episode, "In Harm's Way"
1975 Doctor Who Ponti 2 episodes, "Planet of Evil"
Fawlty Towers Doctor Finn 1 episode; "The Germans"
1981 Omen III: The Final Conflict Brother Paulo
Rise and Fall of Idi Amin Freedom fighter Ofumbi
1984 Sheena Elder 1
1987 Cry Freedom Lesotho government official
White Mischief Abdullah
1997 Shooting Fish Magistrate
2003 Wondrous Oblivion Mr. Johnson
2005 Shooting Dogs Sibomana
Holby City Raymond Opoku 1 episode
2007 Doctor Who Old Billy 1 episode; Blink
2013 Captain Phillips Maersk Alabama Crew
2016 Holby City Thomas Law 1 episode
2018 National Theatre Live: Allelujah! Neville
The Dumping Ground Henry Lawrence

Theatre

Year/Show/Role/Theatre : Talking To You / Various / Duke of York’s Theatre ; Cato Street / Conspirator / Young Vic ; Jesus Christ Superstar / Caiaphas / Gaiety Theatre, Dublin ; Murderous Angels/ Diallo Diop / Gaiety Theatre, Dublin ; 1967 / Coriolanus / Lieutenant to Aufidius / Royal Shakespeare Company ; 1967 / Romeo and Juliet / Musician 1 / Royal Shakespeare Company ; 1970 / Robinson Crusoe/Friday / Mercury Theatre; Night And Day / President Mageeba /Watford Palace Theatre ; Hutch Builder to Her Majesty / Various / Theatre Royal, Drury Lane ; White Devil / Antonelli / Oxford Playhouse ; I am Tomarienka / Various / Watermill Theatre ; 1990 / Desire / Kindo / Almeida ; 1997 / Romeo & Juliet / Friar John and Monatague / Royal Shakespeare Company ; 2007 / Generations /Grandfather / Young Vic ; 2009 / As You Like It / Adam and Sir Oliver Martext / Leicester Curve ; 2009 / The Observer / Muturi and Dr Durami/ Royal National Theatre ; 2010 / Love The Sinner / Paul / Royal National Theatre ; 2011 / Truth & Reconciliation / Rwandan Grandfather / Royal Court ; 2013 / Feast / Papa Legba / Young Vic and Royal Court ; 2018 / Allelujah! / Neville / Bridge Theatre

References

  1. ^ Hadoke, Toby (9 July 2020). "Louis Mahoney obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  2. ^ Michael Quinn, "Louis Mahoney", The Stage, 7 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Louis Mahoney: Trailblazing actor and activist dies at 81", BBC News, 30 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Louis Mahoney | Movies and Filmography". AllMovie.
  5. ^ a b Abigail Dunn, "Reflections of a firebrand". Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Catalyst, 2 March 2007.
  6. ^ a b c "Louis Mahoney", Forward to Freedom: A history of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement 1959–1994, 2013.
  7. ^ Louis Mahoney Biography at IMDb.
  8. ^ "Louis Mahoney: Fawlty Towers and Doctor Who actor dies aged 81". Sky News. 30 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Louis Mahoney". www.aveleyman.com.
  10. ^ "Louis Mahoney". BFI.
  11. ^ Jodie Tyley (6 February 2012). "Being Human Series 4 Episode 1 'The Eve Of War' review". SciFiNow. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  12. ^ Sam Volpe, "Louis Mahoney: 'Real Hampstead character' and much-loved campaigning actor who starred in Doctor Who and Fawlty Towers dies at 81", Ham & High, 1 July 2020.
  13. ^ Sam Volpe (6 July 2020). "Louis Mahoney obituary: Death of Hampstead icon and passionate antiracist marks 'end of an era' in NW3". Ham & High. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Historical Notes > 1958 - 1982". Trading Faces: Recollecting Slavery.
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