About Charles Hyatt
Jamaican actor, playwright, comedian, director, broadcaster, storyteller, teacher (February 14, 1931- January 1, 2007) Charles Eglerton Hyatt was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on February 14, 1931, the son of Herbert Hyatt, taxi-driver, and Ruth Burke, home-maker, and was educated at St Aloysious Boys’ School and St Simon’s College. Recognised as a superbly talented actor from an early age, Hyatt developed his dramatic abilities as a member of the Caribbean Thespians Dramatic Society. He was especially adept at the skill of mime and was noted for impeccable timing, remarkable comic sense and an ability to deliver convincing portrayals of a wide range of characters, male and female. Onstage between the mid-1940s and late ’50s, Hyatt appeared in numerous roles in plays and revues, including the dames in nine consecutive annual Little Theatre Movement (LTM) pantomimes, and also emerged as an outstanding stand-up comedian. He was introduced to radio theatre in the late 1950s, and made his debut as co-host of an early morning chat show on JBC (Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation) Radio when the Corporation began transmission in June 1959. Soon after, he wrote a hugely successful long-lasting series of daily five-minute vignettes titled “Here Comes Charley”, in which he played all roles – male and female – as well as designing and executing the sound effects.
Hyatt was awarded a British Council bursary in 1960 to study at the Theatre Royal in Windsor. He was for many seasons Resident Actor at the Oxford Playhouse and at the Phoenix Theatre and toured all over Britain and Europe. During this period, he enjoyed an enviable reputation as a character actor and made many appearances in films and in television plays and series for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Independent Television (ITV). Among his BBC television assignments, between 1968 and 1971 he wrote and narrated stories aired on the long-running children’s programme Jackanory.
department; presented a jazz programme on JBC Radio, and later at KLAS FM; wrote and narrated for Radio Jamaica & Rediffusion (RJR) a series of reminiscences titled “When me was a Boy”, which the Institute of Jamaica subsequently published in book form; taught theatre arts at the Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts; continued his career as a stage and screen actor; and did a stint as ringmaster of a touring international circus.