CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA

Original 10 inch x 8 inch Portrait of ROBERT ADAMS in the 1945 Gabriel Pascal Historical Drama CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, based on the play by George Bernard Shaw.

Robert Adams was born in Georgetown, Guyana. He was a British actor on stage and screen. He was the founder and director of the Negro Repertory Arts Theatre, one of the first professional Black theatre companies in Britain.

In Guyana, Robert worked as a teacher and actor before coming to England in 1934 to try and make it as a professional actor. In London, he worked as a labourer and became a champion wrestler before breaking into acting in 1935.

An early role was in the 1936 play, “Toussaint L’Ouverture”, acting alongside Paul Robeson. Robert went on to star in filmes wiht Robeson and he took the lead in a television adaptation of “The Emperor Jones”. The BBC version was transmitted live from Alexandra Palace on May 11, 1938 and Adams became the first black actor to play a leading dramatic role on British Television.

Portrait by Wilfrid Newton. Born in 1909 Newton entered the film industry as assistant in the Stills Department of the Gaumont Company, in 1927 and worked there for nine years before going to Ealing Studios, where he built and managed the Stills Department until 1942. He then joined Two Cities at Denham and then became a specialist photographer to the J. Arthur Rank Organisation. His others photo credits include 39 Steps, Jew Suss, Next of Kin, Henry V and Hamlet.

The portrait is in very good condition with minor corner creasing