Actor and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah (born Ian Roberts) has been awarded a OBE (Order Of The British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama. He said the honour was a tribute to the “immigrant’s dream” that brought his parents to the UK from the West Indies.

Kwei-Arma got his big break when he was cast as paramedic Finlay Newton in the hit BBC 1 drama Casualty. He then went on to write and star in numerous plays including the critically acclaimed Elmina’s Kitchen.

The actor changed his name at nineteen years old after tracing his family history, through the slave trade back to his ancestral African roots in Ghana.

Congratulations Kwame.