Mona Hammond, best known for playing Jackson clan matriarch Blossom Jackson in the BBC EastEnders soap opera, has died at the age of 91.
A distinguished British-Jamaican stage actor of Chinese descent, Hammond has been hailed as a “pioneer” and “pioneer” for her work on stage, screen, television and radio, and for her support of actors. British blacks.
Tributes were paid after the news of his death. The president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), Marcus Ryder, tweeted: “It is with sadness that I wake up with the news that Mona Hammond is dead.”
Loose Women presenter Charlene White tweeted, “Mona Hammond, a pioneer in every way. Thank you.”
Radio presenter and journalist Lorraine King wrote: “RIP Mona Hammond. A very talented Jamaican actress who did theater and television, but who will always be Desmond ‘s Aunt SuSu for many of us.
“She will miss him very much. May she sleep in peace.”
Hammond was named an OBE on the Queen’s Birthday Honors List in 2005 for her services to drama. In 2018, she was awarded the Women of the World Award for her lifelong success for her theatrical career and for defending British black actors.
This latest award for his work at the Talawa Theater Company, one of the UK’s leading black theater companies, which he co-founded in response to the lack of creative opportunities for black actors. The company has produced more than 80 productions, from African classics to Oscar Wilde.
Mona Hammond on the Playboy of the West Indies stage in 1984, alongside T-Bone Wilson. Photography: Donald Cooper / Alamy
Born in Jamaica, Hammond, whose real name was Mavis Chin, emigrated to the UK in 1959 on a Jamaican scholarship and worked for architects Norman & Dawbarn.
He attended evening classes at the City Literary Institute in London for two years and received a scholarship to Rada.
Graduating in 1964, Hammond began his career on stage and on television. Her first major role was as Lady Macbeth at the London Roundhouse in 1970 in the African version of Peter Coe’s play.
Over the years, he starred in many plays by emerging black writers and spent two years at the National Theater. He also appeared in numerous films such as Coriolanus, 10,000 BC, Kinky Boots, Manderlay and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.
Hammond moved to television with roles in programs such as The Sweeney, Juliet Bravo, Holby City, Coronation Street and Casualty.
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One of his best-known roles was that of Aunt Susu in the Channel 4 sitcom Desmond’s from 1990 to 1994. She reprized the role in the spin-off Porkpie from 1995 to 1996.
Between 1994 and 1997 she was Blossom Jackson in EastEnders, and reappeared briefly in 2010 at the funeral of her great-grandson on screen, Billie Jackson. Blossom was, in fact, Hammond’s second incarnation in the soap opera: she previously played Michelle Fowler’s midwife in 1986.
Hammond also appeared on the radio in The Archers, where he played Mabel Thompson, the mother of Alan Franks’ late wife.
She is survived by her son and a granddaughter.