BERMUDIAN actor Earl Cameron is to return home next year when he will be honoured by the Bermuda International Film Festival (BIFF) with a retrospective of his work.

The recognition is but one of a host of accolades which have been bestowed on the 89 year old during his lengthy career. He was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bermuda Arts Council in 1999 and three years later, given a retrospective by the prestigious National Film Theatre in London.

Tenth anniversary celebrations of BIFF will feature a selection of Mr. Cameron's films and include a talk with him on his impressive life and career.

"We are delighted that we will be welcoming Mr. Cameron home on the occasion of the festival's tenth anniversary," said BIFF deputy director, Duncan Hall. "Having a 'son of the soil' as one of our featured guests will be one of the highlights of festival week."

Mr. Cameron was born in Pembroke on August 8, 1917. He joined the Merchant Navy, and sailed mostly between New York and South America before the outbreak of World War II resulted in the Royal Navy diverting his ship to the United Kingdom.

Unable to return to Bermuda without a passport, he found a job and, two years later saw a play his friends were involved with in the West End, . Weeks later a walk-on part became available and Mr. Cameron stepped into the role. The play ran until 1946, making it the longest running musical in the West End of that time.

Said a BIFF spokesperson: "His breakthrough film role was as the merchant seaman Johnny in in 1950. Set in post-war London, the film involved racial prejudice, romance, and a diamond robbery. Mr. Cameron won much critical acclaim for his performance.

"(He) starred in the 1955 production of , before giving an impressive performance in the low-budget 1957 crime drama, .

His most famous early screen roles were in two melodramas that attempted to confront the issue of racism in Britain ? the 1959 production, , and the 1961 movie, . He also appeared in the 1965 James Bond film, , among many other roles."

In 1979 he left his acting career and moved to the Solomon Islands to assist the Baha'i community there. He returned to the UK in 1994.

Ten years later, he returned to acting to play the role of African despot Edmund Zuwanie, in Sydney Pollack's , and can be seen in the current theatrical release, , starring Helen Mirren.

"Mr. Cameron has been widely hailed as the most successful black actor that Britain has produced, and rightly so," said BIFF programming director David O'Beirne. "His career has spanned more than half a century, and he continues to be a working actor today. I know I speak for the entire programming committee when I say that we are looking forward to featuring a selection of Mr. Cameron's films at the festival."

Full details of the retrospective will be announced closer to the festival, which is scheduled next year, March 16 through 24.