Few TV debuts have caused more fuss or stoked more curiosity than Gary Carr’s as Jack Ross.
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Gary Carr
First Black Actor on "Downton Abbey"; Known for "Death in Paradise"
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Few TV debuts have caused more fuss or stoked more curiosity than Gary Carr’s as Jack Ross. When the casting of Downton Abbey’s first black character — jazz singer Jack, from Chicago — was announced, anticipation has been fierce and, on occasion, bizarre.
Reaction to the news that writer and creator Julian Fellowes wanted to “open [the show] up ethnically a bit” has ranged from priggish shock to accusations of tokenism and of blatant fiddling with historical fact (as if Downton is a paragon of accuracy in that respect. As if it matters).
Carr, 26, who is best-known as young detective Fidel Best in BBC cops-in-the-Caribbean series “Death in Paradise,” has spent the past few months watching the debate from the sidelines and quashing his frustration.
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An Evening With Gary Carr.
