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Nadia Cattouse

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Nadia Cattouse
Born
Nadia Evadne Cattouse

(1924-11-02)2 November 1924
Belize City, British Honduras
Died29 October 2024(2024-10-29) (aged 99)
London, England
Alma materLondon School of Economics
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1954–1983 (acting)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1958; died 1992)​
Children2, including Mike Lindup

Nadia Evadne Cattouse (2 November 1924 – 29 October 2024) was a British actress and singer. She began her onscreen acting career in 1954 and was best known for her roles in many British television programmes, including Angels, Play for Today, Crown Court, Within These Walls, Dixon of Dock Green and Johnny Jarvis.

Biography

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Early life and career

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Nadia Evadne Cattouse was born in Belize City on 2 November 1924.[1] Her father, Albert Cattouse, was a civil servant who became Deputy Prime Minister of British Honduras, and her mother, Kathleen Fairweather Cattouse, was an educator.[2]

In 1943, during the Second World War, Nadia Cattouse came to Britain as a volunteer and was trained in Edinburgh, Scotland, as a signals operator.[3] She also became a part-time physical training instructor with the ATS.[4] She subsequently attended teacher training college in Glasgow, and after qualifying she returned to British Honduras, where she was headmistress of a Mission school and lectured on infant education at Teachers' Training College and summer courses.[5] She returned to Britain in 1951 and studied Social Sciences at the London School of Economics, acting and singing to pay her way through college.

Cattouse began her television career in 1954.[3][6][7] She appeared in two prize-winning television productions, Freedom Road: Songs of Negro Protest (1964)[8] and There I Go,[5] and appeared on stage as Felicity in Jean Genet′s The Blacks.[5] Her notable recordings as a folk singer included "Long Time Boy"[9] and "Red and Green Christmas".[5]

As a singer in the 1960s she performed at Les Cousins folk and blues club in Greek Street, London, and appeared in television programmes including the BBC's Sing Along and Hootenanny. On the folk scene, she was a contemporary of Julie Felix and Fairport Convention, and was described by Melody Maker as "one of the giants of the folk-song revival in Britain".[10] With Robin Hall and Jimmie Macgregor she made Songs of Grief & Glory in 1967.[11] Her album Earth Mother (1970) was partly recorded at the 1969 Edinburgh Festival. Among other compilations, Cattouse featured on Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up (2005), singing "Long Time Boy",[12] and on the 1972 album Club Folk 2 (Peg Records PS3), singing "B. C. People"[13] and "All Around My Grandmother's Floor".[14]

Cattouse was best known for her acting roles in many British television programmes including Angels, Within These Walls,[15] Play for Today, Crown Court, Dixon of Dock Green and Johnny Jarvis.[citation needed]

Personal life and death

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Cattouse married David Lindup (1928–1992), an arranger-composer with John Dankworth's orchestra, in 1958. The couple had two children and their son Mike Lindup is the keyboard player of the jazz-funk new wave band Level 42. The couple divorced in the mid-60s and in 1969 Nadia married Bryan Webb.[15]

Cattouse died in London on 29 October 2024 at the age of 99.[6][15]

Award

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  • September 2009, Meritorious Service Award from the Government of Belize, "in recognition of her advancement of social, cultural, and political awareness among Belizeans and other Caribbean people in the UK".[16]

Selected discography

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Albums

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  • Nadia Cattouse (Reality, 1966)[17]
  • Earth Mother (RCA International, 1970)[18]

Singles

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  • "The Boy Without a Heart" / "Long Time, Boy" (1961)
  • "Run Joe" / "Bahaman Lullaby" (1961)
  • "Port Mahon" / "A Little More Oil" (1965)
  • "Beautiful Barbados" / "Turn Around" (Reality / RE 503)
  • "It's Hard to See" / "Desert Sand" (LIV/SP/93)

Compilations

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  • Edinburgh Folk Festival Vol. 1 (1963)[19]
  • Edinburgh Folk Festival Vol. 2 (1964)[19]
  • Folk Festival (1964)[20]
  • Freedom Road: Songs of Negro Protest (Fontana, 1964)
  • Songs from ABC Television's "Hallelujah" (Fontana, 1966)[21]
  • Songs Of Grief And Glory" (Fontana, 1967)
  • 49 Greek Street (RCA / RCA SF8118, 1970; RCA / JASKCD193, 2007)
  • Club Folk Volume 1 (Peg, 1972)[22]
  • Club Folk Volume 2 (Peg, 1972)[22]
  • Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up (Numero, 2005)

References

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  1. ^ Ramdin, Ron (September 1999). Reimaging Britain: 500 Years of Black and Asian History. Pluto Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-7453-1600-0. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  2. ^ Palacio, Horace (13 November 2023). "Nadia Cattouse: British-Belizean icon celebrates 99 years of cultural impact and resilience". Breaking Belize News. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Nadia Cattouse". Windrush 70. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2".
  5. ^ a b c d West Indians in Great Britain 1973/74. Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, UK: West Indian Digest, April 1973.
  6. ^ a b Humes, Aaron (29 October 2024). "Nadia Cattouse dies at 99". Breaking Belize News. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  7. ^ Stephen Bourne, Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television (Continuum, 2001), pp. 112–18.
  8. ^ "Freedom Road: Songs of Negro Protest (1964)", BFI.
  9. ^ "Nadia Cattouse – Long Time Boy" on YouTube
  10. ^ "Cattouse, Nadia", Digital Dig.
  11. ^ "Nadia Cattouse: Kelston Round Hill (1967)" from Songs of Grief & Glory on YouTube.
  12. ^ Review by Joe Tangari of Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up, Pitchfork, 26 October 2005.
  13. ^ "Nadia Cattouse – B. C. People" on YouTube
  14. ^ Nadia Cattouse: "All Around my Grandmother's Floor" from Earth Mother on YouTube.
  15. ^ a b c Bourne, Stephen (3 November 2024). "Nadia Cattouse obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  16. ^ Kamcdonald, "Belize government Meritorious Service Award goes to…", The University of Glasgow's International Story blog, 21 April 2014.
  17. ^ "None". Discogs.
  18. ^ "Nadia Cattouse". mainlynorfolk.info.
  19. ^ a b "Edinburgh Folk Festival". mainlynorfolk.info.
  20. ^ "Folk Festival". mainlynorfolk.info.
  21. ^ "Songs From ABC Television's "Hallelujah"". mainlynorfolk.info.
  22. ^ a b "B&C / Pegasus Sampler".
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