Mona Hammond, who has died aged 91, was a pioneer for black actors in Britain, co-founding the Talawa theater group before finding TV stardom in EastEnders as Blossom, matriarch of the Jackson clan.
Her EastEnders character moved with her grandson Alan and his partner Carol into Dot Cotton’s former Albert Square home in 1994. While supporting Alan (Howard Anthony) as he navigated a series of jobs and Carol (Lindsay Coulson) whenever she needed a sympathetic shoulder to cry on – as did Carol’s four children – Blossom worked at the Bridge Street cafe alongside Cathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth).
She enjoyed a platonic friendship with a neighbor, Jules Tavernier (Tommy Eitel), another wise head, before sharing deeper feelings with Felix Kawalski (Harry Landis), a Holocaust survivor who followed his sister to Israel. In 1997, Blossom accepted his offer to join him there.
Hammond said he was leaving EastEnders after three years due to nervous exhaustion caused by the programme’s production schedule. She briefly returned to the soap in 2010 for the funeral of Blossom’s great-grandson Billy, Alan and Carol’s only child.
Mona Hammond, second left, in EastEnders, 1996. From left: Natalie Cassidy, Sid Owen, Patsy Palmer and Dean Gaffney. Photo: BBC
Before joining EastEnders, Hammond made an impression on screen with a handful of appearances spanning the five-year run of Desmond’s (1989-94). She played Aunt Susu, the obnoxious older sister of Shirley (Carmen Munro), who was married to the barber Peckham of the title, played by Norman Beaton. They formed a famous triumvirate of actors who led the way for black performers in Britain.
Hammond’s character in Desmond’s, who is visiting from Jamaica, is introduced as the “dream girl” of Desmond’s old friend Porkpie (Ram John Holder) and becomes his fiancée, but is eventually deported back to her native country. Hammond then appeared in two episodes of the spin-off sitcom Porkpie, returning from the Caribbean – where she had married another man and stolen his savings – after hearing about Porkpie’s £10 million lottery win.
Hammond was born Mavis Chin in Tweedside, Jamaica, her surname derived from her father’s Chinese heritage. In 1959 she moved to Britain on a scholarship and worked for Norman and Dawbarn architects. Keen on acting, she attended two years of evening courses at the City Literary Institute, London, and won a scholarship to Rada, graduating in 1964.
Changing her name to Mona Hammond to avoid being typecast, she made her professional debut the following year at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, in Jack of Spades, a musical written by Beaton and Ken S Hignett.
She plays Gillian, the immigrant girlfriend of Danny Daniels, who faces racism, social deprivation and is beaten by the police after arriving from Guyana. The Times described the play as “brave”.
Mona Hammond in Desmond. Photo: YouTube
Hammond first came to the attention of London theater critics when he took the title role in The Black Girl in Search of God (Mermaid theatre, 1968), based on George Bernard Shaw’s book of short stories. Then, at the Roundhouse in 1972, she played the wife of Oscar James’ title character, recast as Mbeth, in Black Macbeth – the first all-black version of Shakespeare’s play – directed by Peter Coe. It is set in Africa instead of Scotland, among the Barotse tribe in present-day Zambia, and features actors from Africa and the West Indies. In 1989 she played Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, performed at the Tyne Theatre, Newcastle, Bloomsbury Theatre, London, and Cork Opera House.
It was for Talawa, the company Hammond had founded three years earlier, with Carmen Munro, Yvonne Brewster and Inigo Espiel, performing black versions of plays written for white actors as well as original productions. His name comes from a Jamaican word meaning brave and strong.
For Talawa’s 1994 production of King Lear at the Cochrane Theatre, London, Hammond played the Fool as a split personality – with make-up applied to the middle of his face.
Mona Hammond during rehearsals for George Bernard Shaw’s play The Black Girl in Search of God at the Mermaid Theater in London, 1968. Photo: Bob Aylott/Getty Images
Then she breaks into television. After having many one-off roles and appearing in Play for Today’s productions of In the Beautiful Caribbean (1972) and Victims of Apartheid (1978), she played the proud mother of a black British detective featured in Wolcott, a ground-breaking ITV mini-series from 1981 series. Four years later, she had a regular role in the legal drama Black Silk as Marjorie Scott, the estranged wife of the lawyer played by Rudolph Walker.
She first appeared in EastEnders in 1986 as the midwife at the birth of Vicky Fowler, Michelle’s (Susan Tully) daughter. In 1988, she was on Coronation Street for a handful of episodes as Mrs Armitage, unhappy that her daughter Shirley was moving in with Curley Watts.
Several of Hammond’s later television roles were as grandmothers, including in the three-generation West Indian family sitcom Us Girls (1992-93), the Bafta-winning children’s series Pig Heart Boy (1999) and the family drama The Crouches (2003 -05 ), with Walker as her husband.
Her other soap opera role was on radio as Mabel Thompson, mother-in-law of biker accountant-turned-vicar Alan Franks (John Telfer), in The Gunners briefly (2003-04), with brief return visits in 2008 and 2009 In 2005 she was appointed OBE.
Hammond’s marriage to Michael Sanders (1965-87) ended in divorce. She is survived by their son Matthew.
Mona Hammond (Mavis Chin), actor, born 1 January 1931; died July 4, 2022
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