Mona Hammond (born Mavis Chin)
OBE is a
Chinese Jamaican actress and co-founder of the
Talawa Theatre Company. Born in Jamaica, Hammond emigrated to the
United Kingdom in 1959, where she has remained ever since. Hammond has had a long and distinguished stage career. She is best known for her work on British television, which has included various roles in
sitcoms and playing
Blossom Jackson in the
BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was made an OBE in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.
Early life
Hammond was born
Mavis Chin to a
Chinese father from
Guangdong, and a
black Jamaican mother in Tweeside,
Clarendon Parish, Jamaica,
West Indies. She moved to
England in 1959 on a Jamaican Scholarship and worked for Norman and Dawbarn Architects. She attended evening classes at the City Literary Institute for two years and was awarded a Scholarship to the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Career
Hammond began her career on stage and made early appearances on television shows such as
Softly, Softly (1968) and
The Trouble Shooters (1969). Her first leading role was
Lady Macbeth at
the Roundhouse in 1970 in
Peter Coe's African version of the play. She went on to star in many plays by an array of up and coming black writers including
Sweet Talk by
Michael Abbensetts,
11 Josephine House by Alfred Fagon and several plays written by
Mustapha Matura including
As Time Goes By,
Play Mas and
Playboy of the West Indies. She also spent two years at the
Royal National Theatre in productions including
Fuente Ovejuna and
Peer Gynt directed by
Declan Donnellan, and
The Crucible.
In 1985 Hammond along with Yvonne Brewster, Inigo Espejel and Carmen Munroe founded the Talawa Theatre company, which became one of the UK's most prominent black theatre companies. It has produced award-winning plays from and about the African diaspora and has championed reinterpretations of classical British pieces. Hammond performed in several of its productions including The Black Jacobins, The Importance of Being Earnest and King Lear.
Television work followed, which included roles in The Sweeney (1976); Wolcott (1980–1981), a 3-part ATV mini-series about a black detective based in East London; Black Silk (1985); Juliet Bravo (1985); Playboy of the West Indies (1985), Casualty (1986) and When Love Dies (1990).
Hammond has appeared in ITV's Coronation Street, playing the role of Jan Sargent and in 1994 she was cast as Blossom Jackson in BBC's EastEnders. She remained in the role until 1997. This was Hammond's second role in the soap, having previously played the minor part of Michelle Fowler's midwife in 1986.
She is also an occasional actor in The Archers, where she plays Mabel Thompson, the mother of Alan Franks deceased wife.
Hammond has played many roles in television sitcoms, including: Susu in Desmond's (1990–1994) and its spin-off Porkpie (1995–1996); Us Girls (1992–1993), where she played Grandma Pinnock; Chef! (1996), where she played Auntie Clarice in one episode; Brothers and Sisters (1996) and Grandma Sylvie Headly in The Crouches (2003–2005).
In 1999 she played the role of Nan in the children's TV series Pig-Heart Boy, based on a novel by Malorie Blackman and other television credits include Trial & Retribution (1998) as Bibi Harrow: Sunburn (1999); Storm Damage (2000); The Bill (2001); Babyfather (2001); White Teeth (2002); A Touch of Frost (2003); Holby City (2001; 2005) and Doctors (2006). She also appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Rise of the Cybermen" in 2006. Film credits include Fords on Water (1983), Manderlay (2005) and Kinky Boots (2006). Hammond appeared in the movie 10,000 BC, directed by Roland Emmerich.
In October 2010 she reprised her role for a brief stint as Blossom Jackson in the tv soap Eastenders. Appearing in connection to screen great grandson Billie Jackson's funeral, she returned with her onscreen grandson Alan Jackson.
Awards
Hammond was awarded the Officer of the
Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) in the 2005
Queen's Birthday Honours List, for her services to drama in the UK. In 2006 Hammond was presented with the Edric Connor Inspiration Award - the Screen Nation Television and Film Awards' highest UK honour.
References
External links
Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Category:British soap opera actors
Category:Living people
Category:Jamaican people of Chinese descent
Category:British people of Chinese descent
Category:British actors of Chinese descent
Category:English people of Jamaican descent
Category:People from Clarendon Parish
Category:Jamaican immigrants to the United Kingdom
Category:1931 births
