My godfather Jules Walter, who has died aged 96, was a pioneering actor and cultural mainstay of Notting Hill, west London. He appeared in several British television dramas and cult films in the 1970s and 80s, including The Wild Geese (1978), James Bond: A View to a Kill (1985), Doctor Who, Blake’s 7 and The Professionals. Though often in supporting or uncredited roles, Jules was part of a generation of Caribbean actors who made inroads in British film and television at a time of limited opportunity.
Off-screen, his home became a hub for artists, activists and intellectuals. Guests included the civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture), who would often stay with Jules when in London, and the Labour peer Lord David Pitt, reflecting post-Windrush Black political life in Britain.
