Ancile Gloudon passes at 89
Actor, husband of theatre legend Barbara Gouldon dies on Saturday
ANCILE Gloudon — actor, food technologist, orchid enthusiast, and husband of playwright, broadcaster and former Jamaica Observer columnist Barbara Gloudon — died on Saturday. He was 89.
It would seem the month of April was Gloudon’s month, as his daughter Anya Gloudon Nelson explained as his birthday was April 13 (he turned 89), his wedding anniversary was April 23 (they celebrated 62 years of marriage), he moved to Gordon Town in the hills of St Andrew in the month of April and — as fate would have it — he died on April 30.
“I was not expecting it. My mother has not been well but on Saturday I took Daddy to see the doctor as his breathing was bad. He had a heart complication as a result of years of smoking, and on Saturday his oxygen levels were very low. He developed some internal bleeding and his body could not handle it and he decided to leave us,” Gloudon Nelson told the Jamaica Observer.
Despite the sudden nature of his passing, Gloudon Nelson and the rest of the family are content that he was happy, lived a full life, and is now at peace.
“I know he was happy. He went to ‘bush’ on the Easter weekend in search of his beloved orchids, held hands with Mommy on their anniversary, and he always said he lived life with no regrets.”
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Ancile Gloudon arrived in Jamaica in 1952 on a scholarship to study medicine at the then University College of the West Indies (now The University of the West Indies, Mona). He was unsuccessful in his exams and switched his major to chemistry, focusing on food technology. His life’s work involved teaching, pioneering research and the development of orchids in Jamaica. He played the piano, was active in the Andrew’s Memorial Seventhday Adventist Church, and dabbled in acting for stage and screen.
“We shared his [oneness] with the bush. Orchids were his other love. He loved spending hours in the bush... from Blue Mountains to somewhere in Negril where he would discover new species of orchids — some nobody knew existed here in Jamaica. He also was a critical member of the Orchid Society of Jamaica. His involvement helped develop the group from just upper St Andrew ladies to [one] having a more substantial focus.
“Then there was the acting. A lot of persons more associate Mommy with the theatre but he was a fine actor, working on stage, film and television commercials. The first commercial I remember seeing him in was for Keycard — there was [this] older couple dancing and he was just twirling her around. On stage I remember the two-hander called Pantomime by Derek Walcott; he shared the stage with Brian Heap. There was also Carol for Moneybags,
which was Mommy’s play, and this was directed by Pierre Lemaire,” Gloudon Nelson shared.
He appeared in the films Piranha II: The Spawning (1981), Passion & Paradise: Part 2 (1989) and the bigscreen adaptation of the Jean Rhys classic Wide Sargasso Sea (1993).
In remembering her father Gloudon Nelson noted that the one trait that will always stay with her is his generosity of spirit.
“He often got into trouble with the family for this, but it was just who he was. If he was on the road with $100 in his pocket and somebody said ‘Mr G, tings rough, beg yuh something,’ he would give it all to them. It was such an endearing trait that has been repaid may times over. A prime example is the fact that before all these ‘robot’ taxis, transportation in Gordon Town was rough. He would fill up his car with children when he was going to work in the morning. However, there were two rules: Say ‘Good morning’ when you came in and ‘Thank you’ when you leave. In later years if his car broke down, out of the blue would come someone to assist because he gave that person a ride to school when he was a child,” she recalled.