Don Warrington applauds the 'heroic' Windrush generation

British acting legend Don Warrington opened up to The Big Issue about his career, his childhood and diversity in a Letter To My Younger Self.

The 67-year-old commented on the treatment of Windrush-era immigrants, saying it “doesn’t surprise [him]”.

He explained: “People are very careless about that kind of thing. People don’t realise the history. They are not taught about the contribution these people made or the enthusiasm with which they came.”

The Rising Damp star said the Windrush generation, primarily adults who had grown up in the Caribbean and travelled to Britain between 1948 and 1971, are “heroic”. Warrington was one of them, arriving to the UK from Trinidad with his mother.

“They put up with so much but maintained an affection for this country – and to this day you can still see that in them. And you have a government that is so interested in plugging into what appears to be the popular appeal.

“The fact is that those people were never considered – they became invisible because their contribution was never acknowledged in the first place.”

Warrington also reflected on how his younger self would feel about how his career developed.

He said: “It would blow my younger self’s mind. At that age, it was all just a vast dream. All I knew was that I needed to go to drama school and that would be my pathway. So my life is a series of shocks.

“Coming to drama school in London was another shock. There were people who had access to the theatre and they appeared to be so knowledgeable and move with such ease in that world. I was like a rabbit in the headlights.”

Death In Paradise airs on Thursdays on BBC1 and iPlayer.

Read the full article in this week's Big Issue.

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