Yes folks, there really is life after six years of doing a hectic schedule for a successful weekly TV series. JOSEPH MARCELL, who became internationally known as the “snooty English butler with an attitude” on “Fresh Prince of Bell Air”, has been performing a whole range of projects both in Los Angeles and merry old England, since the series went off the air on NBC (it still continues in daily syndication all over the world).

In the past two years, Marcell has starred in the poignant film drama, “We Three”, shot in the beautiful Welsh countryside, a rousing BBC TV comedy sitcom, “Brothers & Sisters”, now in its second season, as the Pastor of a highly charged congregation. He also returned to his Shakespearean roots, starring in the BBC Radio productions of “MacBeth” and “Othello”. These combined with guest roles in the American hit series, “Living Single”, and “In the House” a pilot for the USA Network as well as featured roles in British productions of the mini-series “Mr Libel”, and “Renford Rejects”, and a Lead role in “The Bold & the Beautiful” for CBS television, have kept him too busy to miss even all the good times of working with his “Fresh Prince” colleagues, Will Smith, James Avery, Daphne Maxwell, Alfonso Ribeiro, Karyn Parsons and Tatyana Ali.

There aren't many critically acclaimed Shakespearean actors who can take a turn as an English butler on a hip television series and become a hero. But then, there aren't too many actors like JOSEPH MARCELL, also known in England as “Brutus”, “Othello”, “MacBeth” and “Puck”.

Sometimes fate takes in hand the course of a person's destiny, and the most seemingly casual encounter changes the course of their life, One Saturday night a teenaged Joseph Marcell and a group of friends decided to see a performance of the Negro Ensemble Company in London. He was never the same again.
Joseph realized what he wanted to do with his life He had never acted before, didn't know any actors, or even how to start the process of taking acting lessons. But the one thing that Joseph was sure of, he had to be an actor.

His family, who had emigrated from Saint Lucia in the Caribbean to London, expected Joseph to become an electrical engineer. After Joseph rebelled at age 19, his father insisted that his son support himself and his acting dreams. No one really understood the depth of Joseph's new-found desires.

He moved into his own place, got work on a construction site, when fate again played a hand in Joseph's favor, a notice on a bulletin board advertised acting lessons for professionals only, but Joseph took a chance anyway and called. The sympathetic voice on the other end of the phone belonged to Nina Finberg, a well-known maestro of acting teachers who only worked with the best. She became intrigued by Joseph's determination to act and took him on as a private student.

A year later, after working furiously weekly on speech, voice, scene study and dance, he auditioned for the prestigious English acting academy, the Central School for Speech and Drama, and was immediately accepted. Joseph Marcell - Actor, was on his way.

After working in children's theatre, Joseph had the opportunity to audition for the Royal Shakespeare Company. At his call-back, director Trevor Nunn signed Joseph for the 1972 season. When the Royal started a small theatre company to perform modern plays at midnight, he was cast, along with colleagues Patrick Stewart, Richard Johnson, Janet Suzman, Calvin Lockhart, David Warner and Ian Holm, to perform that debut season. The new company was a rousing success, turning away hundreds at the door.

Joseph became “bi-continental” performing both in England and America (on Broadway, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as well as with Shakespeare & Co. in Massachusetts) on a regular basis. During this time, he received public and critical praise for his performance as “Othello”, and still found time to develop a one-man show which premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company. The acclaim he received came to the attention of director Richard Attenborough, who cast him in his film production of “Cry Freedom”.

Always on the lookout for new challenges, Joseph became involved with directing a production of “Othello” for the West End, London's version of Broadway which had never been done before. Another interesting opportunity arose when renowned poet, Stephen spender wrote the play, “Creon”, the Oedipus trilogy in play form, for Joseph. Joseph also toured India performing Shakespeare for several months. And, with the emerging popularity of American playwright, August Wilson in England, Joseph starred in the title role of Joe Turner’s “Come and Gone”. He also starred in several hit British TV series.

For the production, “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, executives at NBC-TV developed the role of “Geoffrey”, the snooty English butler, specifically for Joseph. As they say, the rest is history. The hit series was a comedy sensation for six seasons, and brought this acclaimed Shakespearean actor to national attention.

As Fate worked in Joseph's favor, he wanted to create opportunities for other minority actors, to perform and hone their acting skills. He conducted a Shakespearean acting workshop, leading to a full-scale production of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild and their Equal Economic Opportunity Committee.

Marcell continues to be active on both sides of the Atlantic, with the Arts Council of Great Britain, The London Roundhouse Arts Project and as an Artistic Directorate of the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. Joseph Marcell believes in having dreams, trusting in your destiny and then working like hell to make it all come true.