Jamaican/British actor, director, and producer Anton Phillips is being awarded the 2015 Edric Connor Trailblazer Award at the 10th Screen Nation Film and Television Awards. Phillips, built a reputation in Britain playing roles which broke down racial barriers. Known as the ‘black Bafta’s’, Screen Nation pays homage to culturally diverse talent in Britain and around the world. The award is named in honour of Trinidadian Calypsonian Edric Connor.
Phillips has played numerous roles in films and television series since the mid-1970s, becoming the first black actor in multiple tv series including General Hospital, The Saint and The Bill. He made multiple appearances in Space:1999 for which he is most known, as well as ITV Playhouse and also appeared in the hit television medical procedural Casualty.
Phillips, a graduate of the Rose Bruford College, has also worked extensively in theatre. Phillips directed James Baldwin’s Amen Corner which became the first black produced and directed play to transfer to London’s West End. He founded Carib Theatre Productions with Yvonne Brewster as well as initiated Black Theatre Forum which sought to provide black theatre with a space on The West End.
The Screen Nation awards will take place on Sunday, February 15, 2015 at the Hilton London Metropole hotel and will be hosted by BBC London News Arts Correspondent, Brenda Emmanus.
Harry Belafonte, Ossie Davis and Rubie Dee, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air are among the other honorary awardees at this year’s ceremony. Belafonte will receive an Outstanding Contribution Award while Ossie Davis and Rubie Dee will receive a posthumous Legacy Award. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air will receive the Classic TV award.