Charles Alden Knight James

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Theater, television, radio, film and cabaret actor. He has performed in more than one hundred works. National Television Prize.

He was born in the province of Camagüey, in a small town called Martí. He is the son of a very humble family, formed by Héctor Knight, Jamaican, and Georgina James, Panamanian daughter of Jamaicans. When he was ten years old his family was affected by the serious economic situation, so his father had to sell a truck that was his only possession and they moved to Guantánamo, the eastern extreme of the Island.

There he began his artistic career as a reciter and singer. He worked at the CMKS radio station, Radio Savón alongside the Sorpresa ensemble and the orchestra of Julito Delgado.

Years later, he decided to emigrate to the capital, where he received acting classes; he made his way among theater, radio and television directors; and won the consideration of the public.

In 1956 he represented the Camagüey territory in a program that was broadcast on national television. He joined that medium, in which programs were done only live, as there was no video tape in that era, which forced him to constantly strive to interpret the most diverse characters with the least possible preparation.

At the Musical Theater of Havana, he embodied Mephistopheles, as the protagonist of the work of the same name. He also worked in theater on television.

One of his most remembered works is Sizwe Banzi ha muerto (1980s), directed by Roberto Garriga, one of the great directors of Cuban television. The work addresses events that occurred in South Africa and in it he shared leading roles with Idelfonso Tamayo. The complexity was such that during the hour he had to remain completely alone on screen, he had to interpret between twelve and fifteen characters.

He has been part of numerous artistic brigades that have performed in the most intricate territories of the national geography. For example, in 2008 he joined Artistic Brigade No. 7 that traveled to the western province of Pinar del Río to perform for the population of La Palma and Central Sanguily, after these were seriously affected by Hurricane Gustave.

Throughout his career he has worked as a duo with Asenneh Rodríguez, dancer Olga Gómez and has collaborated with Ángela David, Alfonso Aran, José Antonio Alonso, among other relevant figures in Cuban and international culture.

He has traveled to Spain, the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Guyana, Mexico, Barbados, France, Great Britain, Angola, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Holland, Belgium and Venezuela.

He founded the theater group Tacya and ventured into musical theater, where he wrote his first song, titled Amor en Trinidad.

In the seventh art he has worked in films such as: Lejos de África (1996); Una Mujer, un hombre, una ciudad (1978); El otro Francisco (1975); El Bautizo (1968); and El otro Cristóbal (1963).

Among his artistic concerns is also literature, especially in the lyrical genre. In a fragment of his poem Siempre joven it reads:
When someone great dies
(Let this be remembered)
It is that death wants
That he has life in history.

He recorded a first album of poems and calypsos with the Maype label. In the 1970s he did valuable work with the work of the National Poet, Nicolás Guillén alongside actress Asenneh Rodríguez. The dramatization of the poems was carried out under the direction of choreographer Luis Trápaga. With this work, both toured the Island, performed on radio, television and finally at the Teatro Auditorium Amadeo Roldán, in the capital.

Since then he has returned to Guillén's work on several occasions. In 1994 he traveled to Spain with Asenneh Rodríguez with the show "De La Habana Vieja Guillén en son" and later they performed at the National Museum of Fine Arts (Cuba) with a show titled "Encuentro con Guillén". The cultivation of this author's work has earned him numerous work invitations and recognition.

Since 1986 he has worked on one of the most outstanding programs of the Radio Taíno station, first with Hilda Saavedra and later (to the present) with actress Obelia Blanco. Hablando de Cuba, the title of the space, is an expository talk with dramatizations that lasts half an hour and is broadcast from Monday to Saturday starting at 9:00 am. Although it has been on the air for 30 years, the space continues to win high audience ratings and excellent reviews.

Alden Knight has received numerous decorations: Alejo Carpentier Medal, Nicolás Guillén Medal, the Shield of the City of Sancti Spíritus, Mirror of Patience of Camagüey, the Replica of the Machete of Máximo Gómez, among others.

In 2009 he received the National Television Prize at an event held at the José Martí Memorial, in Revolution Square.

He is an acting teacher at the ICRT, conductor and director of programs.