Louis Mahoney(1938-2020)

Gambian Louis Felix Danner Mahoney was born on September 8, 1938 and came to England ostensibly to train as a doctor. However, he abandoned medicine for the stage, probably his original intention. He enrolled at acting school in the 1970s. He was a tireless campaigner for racial equality in his profession, as a member of the Equity Afro-Asian Committee and as co-creator, with Mike Phillips, of the Black Theatre Workshop. He helped establish the Equity Performers Against Racism group, developed to circumvent Equity rules preventing political campaigning, in which he was helped by a number of white actors. He was Vice President of Equity between 1994 and 1996. In addition to appearing with most of the major theatre companies he notched up numerous television performances. One of his most famous roles was as the dying werewolf Roy in Being Human (2008).