mean not only that Negro talent in every theatre can be shown to the world, but a continuity of employment for this talent which is now going sadly to waste. He appears in the 1949 film The Hasty Heart (starring Ronald Reagan and Patricia Neal), playing the African warrior Blossom, which role Martins also undertook in the stage production. In the 1950s he made other appearances on the London stage, including in adaptations of Cry, the Beloved Country (Trafalgar Square Theatre, 1954), and The Member of the Wedding (Royal Court Theatre, 1957), before returning to Lagos in 1959. He subsequently took roles in such films as Killers of Kilimanjaro (1960), Call Me Bwana (1963), Mister Moses (1965), and Kongi's Harvest (1970, Wole Soyinka's adaptation of his play of the same name). Death and legacy Martins died in 1985 at the age of 85 in Lagos, where he was buried at Ikoyi Cemetery. He is the subject of a 1983 book by Takiu Folami, entitled Orlando Martins, the Legend: an intimate biography of the first world acclaimed African film actor. Bristol-based playwright Ros Martin has been researching and developing material in connection with Martins, her great-uncle. Filmography References Further reading Takiu Folami, Orlando Martins, the Legend: an intimate biography of the first world acclaimed African film actor, Lagos, Nigeria: Executive Publishers, 1983, . External links Preview of relevant chapter in Stephen Bourne's book Black in the British Frame "Orlando Martins", DAWN Commission. "Orlando Martins, The Legend – First World Acclaimed African Film Actor", Orlando Martins blog. "Celebrating Orlando Martins: First African Hollywood Star from Lagos", 20 April 2017. "Africa’s first Hollywood Star : Dr. Fykaa Caan speaks to Jay Jay Epega", Hollywood London Magazine, 28 June 2020. 1899 births 1985 deaths 20th-century British male actors 20th-century Nigerian male actors Black British history Black British male actors British actors of Latin American descent British people of Brazilian descent British people of Nigerian descent British people of Yoruba descent Burials at Ikoyi Cemetery Eko Boys' High School alumni Male actors from Lagos Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Nigerian male film actors Nigerian male stage actors Nigerian people of Brazilian descent Nigerian people of World War I Yoruba male actors