Mona Baptiste - Singer and Actress

Mona Baptiste singing sensation and HMT Windrush passenger no. 7

Mona Baptiste was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad on the 21st June 1926, she went on to become a successful singer and actress. Her musical talent was obvious at an early age. As a teenager Mona was already singing on local radio stations - she was an accomplished performer. Within weeks of arriving in Britain Mona was singing on the BBC.

Mona boarded HMT Empire Windrush June 1948, she travelled first class from the Caribbean to Britain arriving at Tilbury Docks just one day after her twenty-second birthday. Mona was passenger number 7. She appeared regularly on British radio and television during the late 1940s and early 

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1950s performing calypso, jazz and blues on BBC Radio, in clubs, theatres and dance halls. In 1951 she recorded her version of Calypso Blues, helping introduce Caribbean music to British audiences. As well as the UK, Mona performed in Paris, Belgium and Germany. She went on to settle in Germany where she had most of her success.

She recorded popular songs in several languages, including English, German, French and Spanish. Including her hits There's Something in the Air and Calypso Blues. Mona also starred in several German musical films throughout the 1950s, including Tanz in der Sonne (Dancing in the Sun), An jedem Finger zehn (Ten on Every Finger), Symphonie in Gold and Mädchen für die Mambo-Bar.

Mona married in the early 1950s and had a son, unfortunately her husband was killed in a car accident. She did however remarry and eventually settled in Dublin, Ireland

Mona Baptiste died on 25 June 1993 aged 67, just four days after her birthday.

(photo used represent likeness of Mona Baptite)