Eddie Tagoe

Last updated
Eddie Tagoe
Born
Eddie Nii Afutu Tagoe
NationalityGhanaian
Alma mater Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupations
Years active1971–1996
Notable work Top Secret!
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?

Eddie Tagoe is a Ghanaian actor, musician and reflexologist, based in the United Kingdom. [1]

Contents

Early life

Eddie Tagoe was born Eddie Nii Afutu Tagoe to Chief Asafoatshe Ayah Tagoe. [2] [3]

Tagoe travelled to London to study reflexology prior to pursuing acting. He then received a grant from the government of Ghana to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. [2]

Acting

Tagoe is best-remembered for minor supporting roles in two film classics: As the hippie "Presuming Ed" in the 1987 film production of Withnail and I , a role that he resumed in 2000 in a stage production of the same work; and as one of the pirates in the 1981 hit movie Raiders of the Lost Ark . Billed only as the "Messenger Pirate", his character was sent to find Indiana Jones in advance of Nazis boarding the ship on which Jones was travelling. Initially unable to find Jones, he was instructed by the captain to look again, and immediately replied, "I found him!", pointing to Jones swimming to the Nazi submarine.

Tagoe had a significantly larger part in his film debut, Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), [2] and as "Chocolate Mousse" in the 1984 farce, Top Secret! . He appeared in various other roles such as Sgt. Gwambe in Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985), as well as The Dogs of War (1980), Pink Floyd The Wall (1982) and Spaghetti House (1982). Tagoe also appeared in episodes of a number of British television series, including Legacy of Murder , Prospects , and The Bill , becoming "a well-known face on British television as an actor". [4]

Tageo played the tumba, conga, maracas and the bongos on the 1972–1973 single "I Feel Funky" by Matata. [5]

Reflexology

In 1995, he returned to his reflexology career when he was recruited to serve as team reflexologist for Newcastle United F.C. [6]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotesRef(s)
1977 Black Joy African Dustman [7] [8]
1978 Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? Mumbala [9]
1979 Arabian Adventure Nubian
1980 The Dogs of War Jinja
1980The Boy Who Never WasNgaloMade by the Children's Film Foundation [10]
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Messenger Pirate
1982 Pink Floyd The Wall Minder
1982 Spaghetti House Bill
1984 Top Secret! Chocolate Mousse, Resistance Member [11]
1985 Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend Sergeant Gambwe [12]
1987 Withnail and I Presuming Ed
1991AmaBrother JoshLast film role [13] [14]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotesRef(s)
1973Full HousePerformer in Black Blast!Season 1, Episode 13. Play by Lindsay Barrett. [15] [16]
1996The Bill: TargetMr. HenryCrime / Drama

Stage

YearTitleRoleVenueNotesRef(s)
1971–1973 Show Boat Charlie, The Chorus Adelphi Theatre [17] [18]
1972 Oluwale Horace Hames Brighton Festival Play by Jeremy Sandford. Also performed and broadcast on BBC Radio Brighton. [19] [20]
1979 King Kong King KongHis Majesty’s Theatre, Johannesburg Lead role [21] [1]

References

  1. 1 2 Fleming, Tyler (2020). ""Death Song": The 1979 Remake of King Kong and the Power of Cultural Memories under Apartheid". Opposing Apartheid on Stage: King Kong the Musical. Rochester, New York; Woodbridge, Suffolk: University of Rochester Press; Boydell & Brewer. pp. 228–272. ISBN   9781787446564.
  2. 1 2 3 "Son Of African Royalty To Make His Film Debut", Jet (January 26, 1978), p. 56.
  3. ↑ Fleming, Tyler (2020). "Notes". Opposing Apartheid on Stage: King Kong the Musical. Rochester, New York; Woodbridge, Suffolk: University of Rochester Press; Boydell & Brewer. pp. 363–375. ISBN   9781787446564.
  4. ↑ R. Costello, Black Liverpool: The Early History of Britain's Oldest Black Community, 1730–1918 (2001), p. 40.
  5. ↑ Dlamini, Sazi Stephen (2010). "Narratives of African identity in free jazz and avant-garde repertoires: Dudu's Pukwana's Assegai, Spear, Jabula-Spear and Zila repertoires as narratives of identity in exile". The South African Blue Notes: Bebop, Mbaqanga, Apartheid and the Exiling of a Musical Imagination. Durban: University of KwaZulu-Natal. p. 270. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  6. ↑ Simon Turnbull, "ROYAL APPOINTMENTS FOR NEWCASTLE SQUAD!", The Northern Echo, 11 February 1995.
  7. ↑ "Black Joy". Collections Search. London: British Film Institute. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "Black Joy (1977) - Cast & Crew". Mubi. London. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  9. ↑ "Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?". Collections Search. London: British Film Institute. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  10. ↑ "The Boy who Never Was". CFTF Films Catalogue. Borehamwood, Hertfordshire: The Children's Film & Television Foundation. 2005. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "Top Secret! (1984) - Cast & Crew". Mubi. London. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  12. ↑ "Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985) - Cast & Crew". Mubi. London. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  13. ↑ "Ama (1991) - Cast & Crew". Mubi. London. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  14. ↑ "Ama - An African Voyage of Discovery - BFI Southbank Programme Notes". Southbank Programme Notes. London: British Film Institute. 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  15. ↑ Guernsey Jr., Otis L., ed. (1973). "The Season in London: Limited Runs of Interesting New British Plays". The Burns Mantle Yearbook: The Best Plays of 1972–1973. New York City: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 106. ISBN   0-396-06878-2 . Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  16. ↑ "Full House [03/02/73]". Collections Search. London: British Film Institute. Retrieved 4 August 2025.
  17. ↑ Kreuger, Miles (1990). "Appendix B-Three London Productions". Show Boat: the story of a classic American musical (2 ed.). New York City: Da Capo Press. p. 220. ISBN   0-306-80401-8 . Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  18. ↑ Fielding, Harold; Kern, Jerome; Hammerstein II, Oscar (1972), Harold Fielding's London Production Of Show Boat, E.M.I (Australia); Columbia, retrieved 6 August 2025
  19. ↑ Sandford, Jeremy (1974). SMILING DAVID: the story of David Oluwale. London: Calder & Boyars. ISBN   0-7145-1048-3 . Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  20. ↑ "Oluwale". BBC Programme Index, BBC Archive. London: BBC.
  21. ↑ Oakes, Dougie, ed. (1988). Reader's Digest Illustrated History of South Africa: The Real Story (1 ed.). Cape Town: The Reader's Digest Association South Africa. p. 418. ISBN   0-89577-324-4 . Retrieved 6 August 2025.
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