THE British High Commission last week celebrated the 100th birth anniversary of Cy Grant at a reception hosted at the high commissioner’s residence in Bel Air Gardens.

Born in Beterverwagting in then British Guiana on November 08, 1919, Cy joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1941 and was commissioned as an officer and navigator on Lancaster bombers. He was shot down over the Netherlands in June 1943 and was a prisoner of war for two years, the high commission said in a release.

After the war Cy qualified as a barrister and pursued a successful singing and acting career, appearing in a variety of films and TV shows with actors such as Roger Moore, Richard Burton and Joan Collins. He was the first man of African descent to make regular appearances on British TV; he was a war hero, poet, musician, songwriter, broadcaster, actor and social activist. In the 1970s and 1980s, Cy challenged discrimination, stood up for the rights of ethnic minorities in the UK and worked tirelessly to foster improved race relations in the UK.

In 1997 Cy was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at Roehampton University. He was honoured by Bomber Command at a ceremony at the UK House of Lords in March 2010 as ‘an inspirational example’ of how men and women of all races stood side by side in the fight for freedom in two world wars. In November 2017 a Blue Plaque was unveiled at his home in Highgate, north London, where he lived for 50 years before his death, aged 90, on 13 February, 2010.

Speaking about Cy the British High Commissioner Greg Quinn said: “Ten years after his death Cy remains an enduring example of the links between Guyana and the UK. Links which have continued through good times and through bad and which I am sure will continue in the years going forward. He was quite a character and deserves to be far better known in Guyana.”

Also speaking at the reception was Francis Quamina Farrier, who read one of Cy’s poems, Steel Pan. Cy’s three children continue to live in the UK.