Pearl Connor dies in South Africa

A stalwart of the theatre fraternity has died.  Pearl Connor-Mogotsi, 79, passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa where she lived for many years with husband, actor and writer South African Joe Mogotsi. She was the mother of Peter Connor and artistic director Geraldine Connor, who has been acclaimed for her production of Carnival Messiah in Trinidad and in England.

Pearl Connor, nee Nunez, left Trinidad with her first husband Edric Connor in the late 40s to study law in London. Edric, now deceased, was one of Trinidad’s renowned baritone singers. In 1958, he travelled to South Africa along with his wife, to play a role in Allan Payton’s Cry the Beloved Country. Following Edric’s death in 1968, Pearl married Mogotsi. Mogotsi was manager of his own group called the Manhattan Brothers which had a large following in Soweto and was the first band to leave South Africa to tour. Agnes Agard, one of Pearl’s childhood friends was in shock when she learned of Pearl’s passing. “We knew each other since we were young girls and her kindness is beyond mere words,” Agnes sobbed. “She was the mother of all the Trinidadians who had nowhere to go. She had an agency and got work for them. I remember Vicky Richards was one of the first Trinidadians she got in an ad, it was Tide powdered soap.

“Pearl was fantastic looking and very elegant. She was a ‘silver-tongue’ orator.” Pearl leaves to mourn her siblings Waldo, John, Mervyn, Lois and Imogen, and grandchildren Theo and Casey. Agnes said that a shaken Geraldine “was trying to comfort” her instead, as they spoke on the telephone after learning of Pearl’s death. Geraldine, who currently resides in England, is making arrangements to have her mother’s body flown to England for burial.