Joseph Marcell

Joseph Marcell
Marcell in 2014
Born	(1948-08-14) 14 August 1948 (age 76) Castries, Saint Lucia
Alma mater	University of Sheffield Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation(s)	Actor, comedian
Years active	1969–present
Spouse(s)	Judith M. Midtby (m. 1975; div. 1980) Joyce T. Walsh ​ ​ (m. 1995)​
Children	2

Joseph Marcell (born 14 August 1948) is a Saint Lucian-British actor and comedian. ^[1] He is best known for his role as Geoffrey Butler, the butler on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from September 1990 until the show ended in May 1996.

Born in Saint Lucia, ^[1] he moved to the United Kingdom when he was nine years old and grew up in Peckham, South London. Marcell currently lives in Banstead, Surrey.

He studied speech and dance at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career

Marcell grew up in Peckham, South East London. As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he appeared in productions of Othello and A Midsummer Night's Dream . He has also appeared in feature films and on television in Britain. He serves on the board of the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London where he featured in a nationwide production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and King Lear . ^{[2] [3]}

He played Gonzalo in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in May 2016. ^{[4] [5]} He also played Solly Two Kings in the play by August Wilson, Gem of the Ocean at the Tricycle Theatre, in London, in January 2016. ^[6] Marcell began rehearsals as Titus Andronicus, in July 2017, for the La Grande Shakespeare Company, in La Grande, Oregon. ^[7]

Film and television

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	Antony and Cleopatra	Eros	TV movie
1978	Real Live Audience	Second Man in Audience	TV movie
1987	Playing Away	Robbo
	Cry Freedom	Moses
1990	The Loser	Bartender	Short
1993	David Copperfield	Mr. Micawber (voice)	TV movie
1994	Sioux City	Dr. Darryl Reichert
2004	A Beautiful Life	Juan	Short
2006	Diamond Real Estate	Mr. Rodeo	Short
2007	Rough Crossings	David George	TV movie
	That Samba Thing	Nelson
	Man, Broken	George	Short
2010	The Santa Trap	Santa	Short
2012	Much Ado About Nothing	Leonato
2013	Fedz	Eddie "Fast Eddie"
2014	Return to Zero	Dr. Harrington
2016	The Complete Walk: King Lear	King Lear	Short
	The Complete Walk: Henry V	Chorus (voice)	Short
2017	Wrapped up in Christmas	Jim Nash	TV movie
2018	Battledream Chronicles: A New Beginning	Zeus Thunderking	TV movie
2019	The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind	Chief Wembe
	Hero: Inspired by the Extraordinary Life and Times of Mr. Ulric Cross	C. L. R. James
2020	The Man in the Hat	The Old Man
2021	The Exorcism of God	Father Michael Lewis
2022	Folding	Errol	Short
2024	Hellboy: The Crooked Man	Reverend Nathaniel Armstrong Watts

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978–79	Empire Road	Walter Isaacs	Main cast
1980	Fancy Wanders	Alastair	Episode: "With a Little Bit of Luck"
1981	Crown Court	-	Episode: "Cold Turkey: Part 1"
1983	The Professionals	Nero	Episode: "The Untouchables"
	Rumpole of the Bailey	Freddy Ruingo	Episode: "Rumpole and the Golden Thread"
1984	The Kit Curran Radio Show	Constantine	Recurring cast: season 1
	End of the Line	Harry	Main cast
1985	Juliet Bravo	Bold	Episode: "Hostage to Fortune"
1987	First Sight	Mik	Episode: "Some Day Man"
1988	Doctor Who	John	Episode: "Remembrance of the Daleks: Part Two"
	The Return of Shelley	Palmer	Episode: "Emergency Ward 9"
1989	CBS Summer Playhouse	Doc Holmes	Episode: "Outpost"
	Boon	Charlie Fowkes	Episode: "Arms and the Dog"
	The Bill	Wilmot	Episode: "Pressure"
1990	Desmond's	Matthew McFarlane	Episode: "Porkpies"
	Die Kinder	Joe	Episode: "Catastrophe Theory"
1990–96	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Geoffrey Butler	Main cast
1992	EastEnders	Adrian Bell	Episode: 782 & 783
1993	Runaway Bay	Samuel	Episode: "The Robbery"
1997	Living Single	Reese	Episode: "Moonlight Savings Time"
	McLibel!	Robert Beavers	Episode: "Episode #1.1"
1998	Renford Rejects	Arthur Rodrigues	Episode: "Bowled Over"
	In the House	Minister	Episode: "My Pest Friend's Wedding"
	The Bill	Vernon Johnson	Episode: "One Man, Two Faces"
	Brothers and Sisters	Pastor Gittens	Episode: "Episode #1.1"
2003–04	The Bold and the Beautiful	Hudson	Regular cast
2005	Jericho	Clive Marlowe	Episode: "A Pair of Ragged Claws"
2006	EastEnders	Aubrey Valentine	Recurring Guest (8 episodes)
2008	A Touch of Frost	Joshua Ray	Episode: "Mind Games"
	Holby City	Professor Karl Webster	Episode: "You Do it to Yourself" & "Eighteen and a Half"
2014	Death in Paradise	Alexander Jackson	Episode: "The Man with the Golden Gun"
2020	The Sandman	African Grandfather (voice)	Recurring cast
	Ratched	Len Bronley	Episode: "Ice Pick" & "The Dance"
2021, 2024	Mammoth	Roger Buck	Main cast
2022	I Hate You	Ralph	Episode 1
2024	Queenie	Grandad Wilfred	Recurring cast
2024	Bel-Air	Roman	Season 3 Episode 6

Stage

• King Lear , as King Lear ^[8]
• A Midsummer Night's Dream , as Puck ^[9]
• Gem of the Ocean (2016), as Solly Two Kings ^[10]
• Lady Windermere's Fan (2018) as Lord Lorton, Vaudeville Theatre, London ^[11]
• The Tempest (2016) as Gonzalo, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London ^[12]
• Peter Pan (1982) as Nibs, the RSC at the Barbican

References

1. Made in the Caribbean (4 August 2012). "Caribbean Footsteps meets with Joseph Marcell". Caribbean Footsteps. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023– via YouTube. 'I really am and I have always been a Saint Lucian.'
2. "King Lear Played by Joseph Marcell". Shakespeare's Globe . 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
3. Linn, Sarah (12 November 2014). "Joseph Marcell goes from 'Fresh Prince' to 'King Lear'". Sanluisobispo.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
4. "Joseph Marcell as Gonzalo – The Tempest". BBC Programmes . BBC. 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
5. "Gonzalo Played by Joseph Marcell". Shakespeare's Globe . 2016. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
6. Taylor, Paul (13 January 2016). "Gem of the Ocean, Tricycle Theatre, London" . Independent . Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
7. Adair, Emily (26 January 2017). "'Fresh' face joins local production". La Grande Observer. A Western Communications Company. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
8. Jaffee, Larry (29 September 2014). "Touring the Globe As 'King Lear', Joseph Marcell Talks 'Fresh Prince', Shakespeare and 'EastEnders'". HuffPost . Oath Inc. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
9. Smith, Will (20 September 2022). "Joseph Marcell was born in St. Lucia and came to England with his parents at the age of 7". University of Warwick . British Black and Asian Shakespeare Database. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
10. Billington, Michael (12 January 2006). "Gem of the Ocean". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
11. Morgan, Fergus (25 January 2018). "Lady Windermere's Fan at the Vaudeville, London – review round-up". The Stage . Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
12. Cavendish, Dominic (24 February 2016). "The Tempest is a magical last bow for the Globe's Dominic Dromgoole". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

External links

• Joseph Marcell at IMDb
• Alex Fletcher, "What happened to Geoffrey from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?", TV interview, Digital Spy, 24 February 2014.
• "Caribbean Footsteps meets with Joseph Marcell". YouTube
• "Joseph Marcell – What the Butler did next". Kreol. 12 April 2013.