Mona Hammond

Mona Hammond OBE
Born	Mavis Chin 1935 (age 81–82) Tweeside, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, West Indies
Nationality	Jamaican

Mona Hammond, OBE (born Mavis Chin, 1935) is a Jamaican actress of Chinese descent and co-founder of the Talawa Theatre Company. Born in Jamaica, Hammond emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1959, where she has remained ever since. Hammond has had a long and distinguished stage career. She is best known for her work on British television, which has included various roles in sitcoms and playing Blossom Jackson in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was made an OBE in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama. Hammond has a son, who is a fashion photographer, and a granddaughter.

Hammond was born Mavis Chin to a Chinese father from Guangdong, and a Jamaican mother in Tweeside, Clarendon Parish. She moved to the United Kingdom in 1959 on a Jamaican Scholarship and worked for Norman and Dawbarn Architects. She attended evening classes at the City Literary Institute in London for two years and was awarded a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Hammond began her career on stage and made early appearances on television shows such as Softly, Softly (1968) and The Trouble Shooters (1969). Her first leading role was Lady Macbeth at the Roundhouse in 1970 in Peter Coe's African version of the play. She went on to star in many plays by an array of up-and-coming black writers: Sweet Talk by Michael Abbensetts, 11 Josephine House by Alfred Fagon and several plays written by Mustapha Matura including As Time Goes By, Play Mas and Playboy of the West Indies. She also spent two years at the Royal National Theatre in productions including Fuente Ovejuna and Peer Gynt directed by Declan Donnellan, and The Crucible.

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