Oscar James (born 25 July 1942) is aTrinidadian actor who is based in the United Kingdom. He has had a long and varied career, but is best known for appearing on British television, in particular theBBC soap operaEastEnders, in which he was one of the original 23 cast members asTony Carpenter, a role he played for over two years.

James was born in Trinidad, and had a poor upbringing. He came to the United Kingdom in the 1950s.^[1] 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 theRoyal Shakespeare Company and the first black actor to playMacbeth.^[1]

In 1972, he co-founded with fellow actor Alton Kumalo the first black British theatre company, Temba (the name derived from theZulu word for "hope"), initially to produce new black writing from Britain and South Africa.^[2] Temba staged the first British production of Athol Fugard'sSizwe Bansi is Dead.^[3][4]

James had early roles in television programmes such asSoftly, Softly (1966);Love Thy Neighbour (1975);Quiller (1975);Till Death Us Do Part (1975);The Goodies (the 1975 episode "South Africa", in which he playedEnoch Powell);Gangsters (1976);Angels (1976);The Professionals;Out (1978);Minder (1979);Shoestring (1980);Tales of the Unexpected (1981)andThe Gentle Touch (1984).

He was the first black actor to appear in theITV soap operaEmmerdale Farm in 1978 as Antony Moeketsi, an African teacher who taughtSeth Armstrong to read.^[1] However, he is best known for his role asTony Carpenter in theBBC television soap operaEastEnders. James was one of the original cast members, appearing in the series from its debut in 1985 until 1987.

Other TV 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 Line of Beauty (2006),Holby City (2006),Dream Team (2002),Afterlife (2005) and the television dramaAngel Cake (2006). He has also appeared in several films, including the 1977 filmBlack Joy, where he played loan shark Jomo, and the 2005Tim Burton adaptation ofCharlie and the Chocolate Factory, where he played the shopkeeper in whose shopCharlie Bucket finds the final Golden Ticket.

In 2004, James played Herbert inOxford Road: the Story, a radio play in which he worked alongsideDoña Croll, an actress with whom he had previously worked inKwame Kwei-Armah's playElmina's Kitchen at theNational Theatre.^[1]Elmina's Kitchen was adapted into aBBC Four televised film in 2005, in which James also starred.

James resides inNorth London.^[5]

• A Matter of Choice (1963) - Dancing man at club (uncredited)
• Man in the Middle (1964) - Court Martial stenographer (uncredited)
• Never Mention Murder (1965) - Hospital Orderly (uncredited)
• Naked Evil (1966) - Dupree
• Carry On Up the Jungle (1970) - Nosha Warrior (uncredited)
• The Breaking of Bumbo (1970) - Second Student
• All the Right Noises (1971) - Guard
• Gumshoe (1971) - Azinge
• Pressure (1976) - Colin
• Black Joy (1977) - Jomo
• Jaguar Lives! (1979) - Collins
• Student Bodies (1981) - Football Coach
• Last Night at the Alamo (1983) - Dub
• Water (1985) - Miguel
• Three Kinds of Heat (1987) - Unle Joe
• Hardware (1990) - Chief
• My Kingdom (2001) - Desmond
• If Only (2004) - Superintendent
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) - Shopkeeper
• Shoot the Messenger (2006) - Rodney Pascale
• Oh Happy Day (2007) - Storekeeper
• Deadmeat (2007) - Detective Peters

• Oscar James atIMDb
• "Oscar James and Mustapha Matura in conversation", National Theatre, July 2013.

• 1942 births
• Living people
• 20th-century British male actors
• 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago actors
• 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male actors
• 21st-century British male actors
• 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago actors
• 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago male actors
• 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago people
• Black British male actors
• British male film actors
• British male soap opera actors
• British male stage actors
• British taxi drivers
• Royal Shakespeare Company members
• Taxi drivers
• Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom
• Trinidad and Tobago male film actors
• Trinidad and Tobago male stage actors
• Trinidad and Tobago male television actors

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• EngvarB from October 2017
• Use dmy dates from October 2017
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