BBC viewers saw actor Gary Carr play Sergeant Fidel Best in the beloved crime drama Death in Paradise. Over the years, the long-running show has featured many faces, including Carr, who appeared in the first three series from 2011 to 2014. His character left to join the police force on the neighbouring island of St Lucia.
In real life, co-star Kris Marshall, who played DI Humphrey Goodman from 2014 to 2017, shared that Carr wanted to 'move on' from his role. The same year he left Death in Paradise, Carr starred in the period drama Downton Abbey in a role many may have forgotten.
Unrecognisable Transformation
Gary Carr looks almost unrecognisable as American jazz singer Jack Ross in Season four of Downton Abbey. His storyline centred on a secret relationship with Lady Rose (Lily James), whom he planned to marry despite racial and social barriers. However, Jack ended their engagement, realising that marrying Rose would create great difficulties due to public disapproval over their racial and class differences.
First Black Actor in Downton Abbey
Carr was the first black actor to join Downton Abbey. At the time, his appearance caused mixed reactions, with some accusing show creator Julian Fellowes of tokenism. The actor strongly disputed this, telling The Standard: 'He is an African-American, and that prevents him from following his heart at times and doing what he really wants to. He has to make sacrifices and choices based on the fact that he is a black man in the UK at that time. But Jack is also intelligent and stylish and cool. He knows what he's doing, and he asks questions of himself, too. Would I want to play a token character? No, of course not. A lot of people have made judgments about how Jack is going to be portrayed, but I think they've got it wrong.'
Downton Abbey is available to watch on ITVX, and Death in Paradise can be watched on BBC iPlayer.
