Oliver Samuels to receive Living Legend award
‘King of Comedy’ is excited and proud
FOR HIS over 50 years of service to the performing arts, King of Jamaican Comedy, Oliver Samuels, will be honoured with a Living Legend award today at his stomping ground, Little Theatre, in St Andrew.
The veteran actor grinned from cheek to cheek during a conversation with The Gleaner as he considered what the award meant to him.
“I am very, very, excited and grateful that a company like Red Stripe, which is a staple in our culture, sees it fit to honour me with this award. I feel really proud. This is a big deal – and not the one a KFC,” he said laughing.
While Samuels first rose to prominence and notoriety during the 1980s following the release of the hit TV show Oliver at Large, his love for acting came much earlier as a youth growing up in St Mary.
“As a pickney in my little community pon the banana estate, we couldn’t participate in big people thing. So we had to do our thing, and that’s when I had an idea of acting,” Samuels recalled.
“But I fell in love with the magic of theatre when I went to watch a movie and rain nuh stop fall in a di movie and me think rain a fall out a door. So I thought outside would a full a water, but my brother said ‘Is a film you eediat’, and that immediately told me I wanted to be in that magic,” he added.
CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT
It was the love that kept Oliver Samuels delivering high-quality productions for over five decades and what motivated Red Stripe to honour him.
The company dubbed “the official beer of Jamaica” first launched the Living Legend Awards at the Buju Banton and Beres Hammond-led show, Intimate, in 2023.
“It’s a concept that came alive for us in 2022, to honour different members of the entertainment and creative fraternity for the contributions they have made to Jamaica and to our brand operating in the entertainment space,” said Tyheissa Williams, brand and corporate PR manager at Red Stripe.
“Really it is about the incredible work he (Oliver Samuels) has done over the years – for decades he has been contributing to the creative arts,” Williams added when talking about Samuels’ selection.
At Intimate, Banton and Hammond were crowned, as well as fellow reggae icon Marcia Griffiths. Williams explained that the company has since turned its eyes to the creative arts to honour other legends.
“Samuels represents everything theatre, comedy, just history culture, tradition. Most Jamaicans know of Oliver Samuels and have seen his plays and been exposed to the arts because of the work he has done. He really is an icon,” Williams said.
WORK IN THE FIELD
As Samuels considered the work that has been done in the entertainment industry, he believes there is still more to do.
“Theatre is alive and well, but there is a lot that needs to be done. Firstly, we need to introduce the whole thing of performing arts from primary school and earlier. The youths need something to do in their spare time – something productive,” Samuels said.
He also argued that the industry needs investment from entities in the public and private sectors, specifically to provide more spaces for up-and-coming talent to bloom.
Once those criteria are met, King Oliver believes anyone can thrive and make a living from the performing arts – but only if they stay humble.
“For the youth of tomorrow, be humble, be respectful. Take criticism, whether positive or negative, i n stride. And remember, it is the people who make you, and not you who makes yourself popular,” Samuels said.