Shirley King aka Beulah

Though given the name Shirley King at birth, she dons the fun loving sobriquet of 'Beulah' for which she is much loved by her audiences. She is vibrant actress and well known comedienne who has embraced the stages of theatre and local television for over thirty years. King was born in 1942 to the southern town of Point Fortin but spent most of her childhood days in rural Chaguanas. Having come from a faith-filled Catholic family, she became heavily involved in the church from an early age and attended mass with her parents every Sunday. Her father worked very hard to make ends meet and, being the eldest of seven siblings, she took on many responsibilities at home. Still, King was never able to attend secondary school her family could not afford it. Instead, she remained in the primary school system after writing her School Leaving exam. At age 14 she became a monitor, teaching classes when teachers were absent, and by age 15, she was teaching infant classes for a salary of $40.00. It was not until King turned seventeen that she received her first official job as a teacher at the Cunupia Government School. In 1974, having been very involved in the Catholic Youth Organisation (CYO) and Best Village competitions, King was asked to be an organiser for week of arts programme facilitated by the government. On one night in particular when Freddie Kissoon was on stage, he asked for someone to volunteer to do a stand-up dialogue. King willingly stepped up to the plate and proved to be the hit of the night. It was right then and there that Kissoon invited her to join the Strolling Players and the rest was history. Since then, she has starred in over seventeen plays by Kissoon and several other television acts and events. In 1988, King was awarded the Humming Bird Medal of Trinidad and Tobago for her contribution to art, and has also received a citation from the Borough of Brooklyn, New York for acting. The mother of three has now retired from teaching and channels much of her energy into her work with the church and her role as an actress.