Floella Benjamin

Benjamin was born in Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago, one of six siblings, with three brothers and two sisters.[4]

When her father, "a policeman and a talented jazz musician",[4] decided to emigrate to Britain, the children were left in the care of family friends. In 1960 the children went to join him in Beckenham, Kent. She has discussed the racist experiences she had when arriving in Britain as an immigrant.[5]

Having left school to work in a bank, she studied for A-levels at night school.[6] After a spell as a stage actress in West End musicals, she began presenting children's television programmes in 1976, notably Play School for the BBC.

Benjamin has appeared in Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Black Mikado and The Husband-In-Law, as well as several pantomimes. On screen, she appeared in the 1975 horror film I Don't Want to Be Born and starred in the 1977 film Black Joy. Her television credits include Angels, Within These Walls, Crown Court, The Gentle Touch and Dixon of Dock Green. She appeared as Juniper in the first episode of Bergerac (1981).[7]

Benjamin read two stories for the Story Teller magazine series (1983 and 1984). She was chief executive of Floella Benjamin Productions Ltd, which had produced television programmes since 1987 and was dissolved in 2014.[8] She had done the voice work of "U" and "PG" Video Standards Council information clips. In 2006, she appeared in an episode of The Line of Beauty.

Between 2007 and 2011, she guest-starred in the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures as Professor Rivers of the Pharos Institute in the stories The Lost Boy The Day of the Clown, The Eternity Trap and Sky. She also narrated three "making-of" documentaries on the Doctor Who DVD boxed set The Black Guardian Trilogy.[9] In 2007, she played a small role in the British comedy Run Fatboy Run.

She is the singer for a rock and blues band Damn Right I Got The Blues, and says: "When I sing I am in my element."[10]

Benjamin's 20th book, a memoir, Coming to England, about moving from Trinidad, was published in 1997, and is now used to teach modern history to young people.[11] Other books written by Floella and published by various houses include titles such as Floella's Fun Book, Why the Agouti Has No Tail, Caribbean Cookery and Snotty and the Rod of Power. Many of her titles are aimed at children and development.[12][10]

Benjamin in 2007

Benjamin was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting in the 2001 New Year Honours.[13] At that time she was chairperson of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). She has also won a Special Lifetime Achievement award from BAFTA. She was chairperson of the Women of the Year Lunch[14] for five years and a Millennium Commissioner. She is president of the Elizabeth R Commonwealth Broadcasting Fund and a governor of the National Film and Television School. She was a governor of Dulwich College, where her mother once worked and her son attended.

In 2006, she was awarded the degree of honorary D.Litt. (Exon) by the University of Exeter for contributions to the life of the United Kingdom. Benjamin succeeded Lord Alexander of Weedon as Chancellor of the University of Exeter.[15] She famously hugged graduates instead of traditionally shaking their hands during the graduation ceremonies.[16] Benjamin stepped down from office in winter 2016 after ten years in the post.[17] A statue of Benjamin is outside the University's student guild.

In 2008 she was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London. In the 2010 Dissolution Honours List, she was appointed a Liberal Democrat life peer, being created Baroness Benjamin, of Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley on 26 June 2010.[18][19] In 2010, she was appointed chair of governors at The Isle of Sheppey Academy until her term in office expired at the end of 2011.

In the 2020 Powerlist, Benjamin was listed in the Top 100 of the most influential people in the UK of African/African-Caribbean descent in the UK.[20] The same year saw Benjamin appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to charity.[21] On 12 March 2020, in an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, she received the award from Prince Charles.[22]

Floella Benjamin in 2009

Benjamin's interest in education has also seen her on the "4Rs Commission"[23] established by the Liberal Democrats to look into primary education in the UK.

Benjamin is vice-president of NCH Action for Children and Barnardo's, and was in the NSPCC's Hall of Fame. She runs the London Marathon to raise funds for Barnardo's and the Sickle Cell Society. She was a cultural ambassador for the 2012 Summer Olympics. In September 2011, she participated in the Great North Run.[24][25] She features in the BBCs CBeebies animation Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies.[26]

In July 2007 she spoke of what she saw as the low standard of children's television[27] and in March 2013, she used a speech marking International Women's Day to warn of the impact on children of the availability of violent pornographic material online, claiming this was leading to the increasing objectification of women.

She is a patron of the charity Beating Bowel Cancer, having lost her mother to the disease in 2009.[28]

In October 2015 in a talk to migrant children, Floella Benjamin said that dropping her accent was the key to her success and that migrant pupils should do the same to avoid racism and bullying.[29]

• Floella Benjamin at the British Film Institute
• Floella Benjamin profile, TV.Com; accessed 25 March 2014.
• Floella Benjamin at IMDb
• Floella Benjamin official website
• University of Exeter webpage

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