Allister Bain Explained

Allister Bain
Birth Date:1935 1, df=yes
Birth Place:Grenada
Occupation:Actor, playwright, screenwriter
Years Active:1964–present

Allister Bain (born 1 January 1935) is a Grenadian television and film actor and theatre playwright and screenwriter, who moved to the UK in 1958. A veteran of British performing arts, his TV appearances include roles in Us Girls, Vanity Fair, Bugs, Doctor Who and Waking the Dead. On the stage Bain has appeared in plays by Derek Walcott, Earl Lovelace, Michael Abbensetts, Noël Coward, and William Shakespeare, among many others.[1]

Biography

Bain was born in 1935 in the sovereign state and island country of Grenada, located north-west of Trinidad and Tobago, north-east of Venezuela, and south-west of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean. In 1958, Allister moved to England, having taught Dorothy Dandridge to limbo for the film Island in the Sun (1957).

Sometime before the start of his career, Bain was in charge of his own dance troupe, the Bee Wee Ballet of Grenada, whose performances were some of the first that contributed to the birth of what became the Notting Hill Carnival.[2] Bain has written a number of plays during his career. His first, 2001 People, was written in 2001. His play Effie May debuted in 2005 when Bain was 70 years old,[3] Catalysta in 2008,[4] and Pardon My Simplicity in January 2012 (Rosemary Branch Theatre).[5] [6] He is also the author of One Slice of History (Good Vibes Records & Music Ltd, December 2012).[7]

Filmography

Film
YearFilmRoleNotes
1982Made in BritainHopkins
1983Fords on WaterWinston's father
1987Sammy and Rosie Get LaidFather
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1964Theatre 625Male nurseOne episode: "Women in Crisis #2: With Love and Tears"
1969The TroubleshootersJerryOne episode: "This Place Is a Paradise, Mister"
Dixon of Dock GreenBus conductorOne episode: "Bobby"
1971Softly, SoftlyMr. GillOne episode: "Hostage"
1975Shades of GreeneWaiterOne episode: "Cheaper in August"
QuillerCharlie 1One Episode: "Objective Caribbean"
1976Love Thy NeighbourElectricianOne episode: "Power Cut"
Spring and AutumnBus conductorOne episode: "Episode 3.1"
1977The ProfessionalsMr. CulverOne episode: "Klansmen"
The FostersLawrenceOne episode: "The Diet"
1978The Chiffy KidsStall HolderOne episode: "All in a Good Cause"
1979Empire RoadAlvinFour episodes: "Football Crazy", "Godfadder at Bay", "Streets of Thornley", and "Wedding"
1985Black SilkPedro OjoTwo episodes: "A Long Way Away", "The Cause of Liberty"
1986Kit CurranAmbulance mateOne episode: "The Lucky Break"
1987Vanity FairSamThree episodes: "Miss Sharp and Miss Sedley Open the Campaign", "Vauxhall Gardens" and "Crawley of Queen's Crawley"
1992Us GirlsGrandad Pinnock12 episodes
1996BugsAirport guardOne episode: "Whirling Dervish"
2003Waking the DeadLawrenceOne episode: "Final Cut: Part 1"
2005The BillO'Ryan (1986) and Mr. Earle (2005)Two episodes: "The Chief Super's Party" (1986) and "279" (2005)
2009Doctor WhoWinston KatusiOne episode: "The End of Time (Part 1)"

Notes and References

  1. Author's note on cover of One Slice of History, London: Good Vibes Records & Music, 2012.
  2. http://claudiajones-leftofkarlmarx.com/articles.htm "Left Of Karl Marx by Dr. Carole Boyce-Davies".
  3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2005/05/31/effie_may_review_feature.shtml Beds Herts and Bucks - Entertainment - Effie May
  4. http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsB/bain-allister.html Allister Bain - Complete Guide to the Playwright, Plays, Theatres, Agent
  5. Carolin Kopplin, "Pardon My Simplicity at the Rosemary Branch Theatre", UK Theatre Network, 18 January 2012.
  6. http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/pardon-my-simpl-rosemary-branch-7091 Pardon My Simplicity
  7. http://www.goodvibesonline.co.uk/ Good Vibes Records & Music Ltd.