Cornell John
Born1963 (age 6061)
OccupationActor
Years active1999–present

Cornell Salmonn John (born 1963) is a British actor who has appeared in various film and television productions since 1999. He is most renowned for his role as Trife's uncle, Curtis, in the films Kidulthood (2006), Adulthood (2008) and Brotherhood in addition to later starring in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Sam James, during 2013. He is also known for having originated the role of Mufasa in the West End production of the musical The Lion King.

Career

John made his screen debut in two episodes of the television series The Knock. Over the course of the next few years he appeared in television shows including Maisie Raine and Lenny Henry in Pieces, and also appeared in the films Rottweiler and Red Mercury.

However, his most establishing role as a film actor was as Curtis, Trevor's Uncle, in the 2006 film Kidulthood, a role which he reprised for the sequel to the film Adulthood (2008), the latter of which was directed by fellow actor Noel Clarke. He then reprised the role for a 3rd time in the sequel to Adulthood, Brotherhood in 2016. He also appeared as Glenstorm in the fantasy film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in 2008, and the same year he appeared playing the same character in a video game of the same name. He has also appeared in other video games including EyeToy: Play and Fable. He has appeared on soap opera Doctors on two occasions, the first in 2001 and the second in 2005. He has also appeared in another medical drama Holby City on two occasions, the first in 2002, before returning to appear in another episode of the series ten years on in 2012. He appeared in his third medical drama Casualty in 2010. He appeared as Didi Mputu in four episodes of Five Days (2010) and as Sid in three episodes of Inside Men (2012).

He appeared in an episode of Top Boy in 2011, while other film credits include Anuvahood (2011) and Jack the Giant Slayer (2013).

From 2011 until 2012, he played the role of Wensley Dale in the children's television show Rastamouse. He appeared in 31 episodes of the series in total.

In 2012, he made a one-off appearance in the BBC television series, Waterloo Road. He played the role of Lionel Tsibi, the uncle of regular character Lula Tsibi (Marlene Madenge).

In 2013, he was cast in the role Sam James in the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders. His character is introduced as the estranged husband to established character Ava Hartman (Clare Perkins) and father to Dexter Hartman (Khali Best). He was cast in the role by executive producer Lorraine Newman, and made his first appearance on the show on 14 May 2013.[1] He made his final appearance on 16 December 2013.[2]

In 2018, John appeared as 'Arnold Guzman' in the film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.[3]

Filmography

YearFilmRoleOther notes
1999RageRazor
2003Kaena: The ProphecyDemokVoice role, English version
2004RottweilerDongoro
2006KidulthoodUncle Curtis
2008AdulthoodUncle CurtisBilled as Cornell S. John
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince CaspianGlenstorm
2005Red MercuryNeville
2011AnuvahoodYardie
Jack the Giant SlayerFeeVoice role, billed as Cornell S. John
2016BrotherhoodUncle Curtis
2018Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of GrindelwaldArnold Guzman
2020His HouseThe ApethVoice role
2023The Pope's ExorcistBishop Lumumba
YearTelevision seriesRoleOther notes
1997Thief TakersThomas Keyworth1 episode
1999Maisie RaineRene1 episode
The KnockGannon2 episodes
2000Lenny Henry in Pieces1 episode
2001DoctorsRay Adams1 episode
2002EastEndersJimmy3 episodes
Holby CityHarry Sutherland1 episode
DoctorsD.S. Dave Patterson1 episode
2009No Signal!2 episodes
2010CasualtyJoey Craven1 episode
Five DaysDidi Mputu4 episodes
2011Top BoyWendell1 episode
2011–12RastamouseWensley DaleVoice role, 38 episodes
2012Waterloo RoadLionel Tsibi1 episode
Holby CityVivian Wallace1 episode
Inside MenSid3 episodes
2013EastEndersSam James49 episodes
2015Death in ParadiseWilliam Lee1 episode
2020–22Gangs of London Joseph Singer5 episodes
YearVideo gameRoleOther notes
2000Crash BashAku Aku, Uka UkaVoice role, listed under "Special Thanks"
2008The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince CaspianGlenstormVoice role

References

  1. Rigby, Sam (14 April 2013). "'EastEnders' casts Cornell S John as Dexter Hartman's father". Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  2. "Sam James". EastEnders. BBC. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  3. "Everything we know about Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald so far". Pottermore. 16 November 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.