Ben in Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Duane Jones (1937-1988) was an American actor, theatre director and academic. His best-known film was also his screen debut, playing the lead role of Ben in George A Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968). It was a significant piece of casting for a number of reasons, being the first time that an African-American actor had ever been cast as the star and hero of a horror film, and also one of the first occasions in US cinema when a leading role was given to a Black actor when the script didn’t explicitly call for one. Romero later simply stated that ‘Jones was the best actor that we met to play Ben,’ but in the immediate aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination it was a bold and provocative piece of casting. As if the spectacle of a Black man rescuing white people from zombies in 1968 America weren’t radical enough, the fact that Duane Jones also happened to be gay adds another layer to the film’s coding. Jones later became director of the Maguire Theater at the State University of New York, and artistic director of the Richard Allen Center for Culture and Art in Manhattan.

Other films include: Ganja & Hess (1973), Losing Ground (1982), Beat Street (1984)

Framed Dimensions: 346mm x 298mm (Unframed: 186mm x 240mm)

Monochrome acrylic on Strathmore toned card
Glazed, mounted and framed

Supplied with signed letter of authenticity from Barnaby.

Please note, this is the original artwork by Barnaby. It is unique and not a reproduction.