Theatre icon Leonie Forbes ‘the gold standard’

“One of the really great actresses and media personalities that Jamaica has produced,” is how Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, remembered Leonie Evadne Forbes, who passed away last Tuesday at the age of 85. The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA) described Forbes as “the gold standard”.

Minister Grange said, “Leonie was an actress extraordinaire and a broadcaster of the highest calibre. She was one of the most revered actresses on the Jamaican stage for over five decades, earning the respect and admiration of not just audiences, but her fellow practitioners. Her willingness to share her vast knowledge and experience with young thespians was one of the last memories of her which will last for a very long time.

“Leonie was the consummate professional, with a preparation process which was most worthy of emulation. Whilst many others would arrive at the theatre at the designated one hour, Leonie was always there at least two hours before, in preparation mode.

“She was the ‘leading lady’ for a generation of broadcasters and thespians who excelled at their craft. She was as great in a radio studio as she was onstage and in television and films, and as a producer. Leonie has certainly made her mark and will be a hard act to follow.”

Minister Grange saluted Forbes for “the iconic part she played in the development theatre, radio broadcasting, television and films in Jamaica”.

The EMCVPA noted that “in the 1970s Ms Forbes taught at the Jamaica School of Drama, drawing on her vast knowledge and experience over her various disciplines to share with her students. Ms Forbes taught a course in acting for film and television, and in later years remained close to the institution as an examiner at the School of Drama”.

The college noted that Forbes’ death “marks the end of an era in Jamaican film and theatre, as well as local broadcasting, as her name is indelibly etched into these art forms. She was the gold standard ... We all recall her voice and presence on the now defunct Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation, both radio and television. The life and legacy of a Leonie Forbes to ought to spur the interest of present-day media and theatre practitioners, as well as students of the arts, who can build on her extensive body of work and overall contribution”.

Born on June 14, 1937, Leonie Forbes grew up in Kingston as an only child. She attended St. George’s Preparatory, Merrywood Elementary School, Mico Practising School, Kingston Senior School, Excelsior College and Durham College.

Her first job after leaving school was with Sir Philip Sherlock. She worked as a typist at the then recently incorporated University College of the West Indies. After a while she went to work with Barry Reckord, a playwright. Here she would type Reckord’s plays and at times accompany him to the studios of the Government Information Service (now Jamaica Information Service) to watch the recording sessions. It was here that she got her first exposure to radio as she started to do parts in the programmes produced for Government broadcast.

When the now defunct Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) started in 1955, Forbes became an announcer. She was one of the first voices on the radio along with Dennis Hall, Desmond Chambers, Erica Allen and Beverly Anderson.

The late Mrs. Rita Coore, who Forbes said was one of the influential persons in her life, heard her on the radio and decided to give her speech lessons. Coore said that Leonie had a charming little voice, but was doing some dreadful things to the language.

It was with the help of Englishman Robin Michelin, who came to Jamaica to help set up the JBC, that Leonie was able to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in England. He was quite impressed with her voice and offered to sign her up to attend the Academy. Forbes was sceptical at the time and became increasingly disappointed after months passed and she didn’t get any reply from the Academy. She eventually heard that not only had she been accepted, but she had also won a tuition scholarship.

She spent six years of study and practice at the RADA where she pursued a diploma course in radio, television and stage. Leonie also worked on scripts for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Caribbean service where she did works on Jamaican lifestyle.

The then Mrs. Forbes-Amiel appeared in several RADA productions including the pantomime, Cinderella. She also played in Unknown Woman of Arras, Days of the Lion and Antony and Cleopatra in which she was the lead female actor. She has also featured in television drama series on the BBC and Independent Television networks such as Z Cars, Odd Man, Public Eye, Hugh and I, Desperate People and Harper’s West.

On her first appearance in professional theatre, Busha Blue Beard, a Lloyd Reckord production, in April 1962, a London critic, Kenneth Tynan, reported that Leonie put on “a bewitchingly ingenious performance … as a crystal ball trainee”.

Leonie Forbes returned to the JBC in 1966 after the completion of her training at the Royal Academy. She left again for Australia in 1968 with her husband Dr Keith Amiel who at the time was doing research in veterinary science at Queensland University. While there she appeared in the production of the Shakespearean play Merchant of Venice. She also took part in ABC radio plays, taught drama at three Brisbane schools and worked as a librarian for International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) Australia Limited.

When Leonie returned to Jamaica in 1970 she went back to JBC where she worked as a producer/presenter for television. In 1972, she spearheaded the development of Radio Two JBC FM Stereo Service and started and ran the JBC TV Drama Work Shop, which produced among other programmes, Stronger, A Scent of Jasmine, and Lets Say Grace, a screenplay which she wrote and produced herself. In May 1976 Leonie was appointed to the post of director of radio broadcasting for the JBC.

As an actress, Forbes has played leading roles in 12 pantomimes and has acted in plays such as Sea Mama, Miss Unusual, The Rope and the Cross, Old Story Time and Champagne and Sky Juice. She has also appeared in films such as Children of Babylon (1980), Club Paradise (1986), The Orchid House (1991), Milk and Honey (1995), What My Mother Told Me (1995), and Soul Survivor (1995).

Leonie Forbes also authored a book titled, The Re-Entry Into Sound, along with Alma Mock Yen, formerly of the UWI’s Radio Education Unit. This is a standard text used to train broadcasters all over the Caribbean.