Esther Anderson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | August 4, 1943 |
| Other names | Ester Anderson |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, photographer, actress |
| Years active | 1960–present |
Esther Anderson (born August 4, 1943 [1] ) is a Jamaican filmmaker, photographer and actress, [2] sometimes listed in credits as Ester Anderson.
Anderson was born in the parish of St. Mary on the north coast of Jamaica. Her father Randolph Wymess Anderson was an architect and planter. Her mother, Ivy Mae Mahon, belonged to a well-established Indian community in St Mary. Esther studied at Highgate High School in Highgate, Jamaica, and at the Quaker Finishing School, where she joined the St. John Ambulance Brigade. At the age of 14, she moved to Kingston to live with her paternal grandmother at the family home in Half Way Tree.
Organisers of a 1960 Miss Jamaica beauty contest [3] invited her to participate as "Miss Four Aces". At this time she met former Governor of Jamaica Hugh Foot, his aide-de-camp Chris Blackwell, Premier Norman Manley and Jamaica's first Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante. The jury awarded her the first prize, but changed it to third prize while Anderson was still on stage after realizing she was underage. Anderson's father was angry she had entered the contest. This and the excessive public attention following the contest led Anderson to use the prize proceeds to travel to England. [4]
In July 1961, Anderson arrived in London, where she began modelling for the artist Aubrix Rix, an illustrator for Woman's Own magazine whom she had met in Kingston with Dr Ken McNeill. She studied drama at the Actor's Workshop in London. She combined her studies with a modelling career, doing photo shoots and commercials for Africa and Asia. She was tested and won the contract for a series of commercials as the dancing girl advertising Kent's Doncella Cigars. She was offered a role in a documentary film by Jo Menell, who was a producer journalist for the television programme Panorama . The film was directed by Riccardo Aragno. They filmed part of the scenes at the Crazy Elephant club, where Anderson worked as a DJ at nights. As a dancer, she had trained with Trinidadian Boscoe Holder, brother of Geoffrey Holder, while going to drama school. Anderson and her sister Thelma (later Tiffany Anderson) auditioned for the producer Elkan Allan and director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and they teamed up as dancers and choreographers for Ready Steady Go! , the number-one pop show on British television at the time. They appeared as the Anderson Sisters, with The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Walker Brothers, Sonny and Cher, Cathy McGowan and Donovan. Anderson was offered a part in a film that Marty Ransohoff was making in Europe called The Sandpiper (1965).
Anderson helped to develop the Jamaican music label Island Records from the early 1960s, [5] [6] selling Jamaican records with Chris Blackwell from a Mini Cooper, writing lyrics, taking stock, and promoting and managing all the Jamaican artists that went through Island Records, including Millie Small, Jimmy Cliff, and Bob Marley and the Wailers. [7]
Anderson took iconic photographs of Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer and contributed lyrics to the albums Catch a Fire , Burnin' , and Natty Dread .
In parallel with her photography and work with Island Records, Anderson steadily developed a career as an actress. She secured roles in a number of early 1960s British television shows, including Dixon of Dock Green and The Avengers . She played roles in movies such as Henry Levin's Genghis Khan for Columbia Pictures, Robert Freeman's The Touchables for Twentieth Century Fox, Ted Kotcheff's Two Gentlemen Sharing , Jerry Lewis's One More Time for United Artists, and Sidney Poitier's A Warm December for First Artists. In this latter film, her role of an African princess won her an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress in 1973.[ citation needed ]
She helped to launch the film industry in Jamaica, acting as co-producer of the film The Harder They Come (1972), urging director Perry Henzell to give the lead to local Jimmy Cliff rather than to American Johnny Nash. [8] She coached Cliff for the partly autobiographical role and organised financing for the soundtrack, bringing in Chris Blackwell to put up the US$5,000 needed to complete the film as well as releasing the soundtrack on Island Records (1973).
Her photographic collection was exhibited at The Photographers' Gallery in London. She is also represented by Bill Gates' agency Corbis and the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto.[ citation needed ]
Anderson continues to develop her work as a photographer and documentary maker. She has been exhibited by La Tete Gallery in Paris, curated by Galaad Milinaire, The Photographers' Gallery in London, [9] the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto, Canada, [10] and in the Caribbean by Niki Michelin in Antigua. Her portraits include as subjects: Louise Bennett, Marlon Brando, Bob Marley, Amanda Lear, Catherine Deneuve, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Denzel Washington, Jacques Chirac.[ citation needed ]
As a filmmaker, Anderson's first film Short Ends [11] was an official selection at the 1976 Edinburgh Film Festival. She researched the lives of people of colour at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, developing the idea of making films on positive role models.
The first of these films, The Three Dumas (the story behind The Count of Monte Cristo ), was produced in collaboration with architect Gian Godoy under the banner of Trenhorne Films (UK), and is a dramatised documentary about novelist Alexandre Dumas and his ancestors: the grandson of the French Marquis de la Pailleterie and an enslaved African, Dumas overcame all the obstacles of prejudice to become a role model of contemporary literature. Anderson herself portrays General Toussaint L'Ouverture, leader of the Haitian Revolution. The avant-premiere of The Three Dumas took place in 2005 in France at Villers-Cotterets, birthplace of Dumas, to coincide with the inauguration of a statue of him in the presence of the French Minister of Culture. The UK premiere took place in 2007 at the Museum of London Docklands, coinciding with the inauguration of the new Sugar and Slavery Gallery during the bicentenary commemorations of the 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. Other screenings around the world include the British Film Institute, [12] Canadian Museum of Civilization, McCord Museum, Massachusetts Historical Society, [13] McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, University of Leeds, University of Nottingham, University of Birmingham, Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, [14] V&A, and an official selection at the Portobello Film Festival. [15]
The second film of her trilogy, Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend (in collaboration with Gian Godoy), was screened as work-in-progress at the British Film Institute NFT1 on March 19, 2011. [16] It is based on footage Anderson shot in the early 1970s that was lost for more than 30 years. In a 2013 interview Anderson said: "Twelve years ago I got my footage back. One day a man came to interview me from Channel 4, and I saw the footage and said, that’s mine. He said he’d found [the film reels] in a garage in Canada. They were completely destroyed and had to be baked to bring the images back." [8]
The film is a kaleidoscopic portrait, with the narrator taking the viewer on a journey to the Caribbean islands, to Jamaica and into 56 Hope Road, Kingston, to see and hear the young Bob Marley before he was famous. While exploring the powerful relationship between Anderson and Marley, the film shows the Wailers' first rehearsal, when the idea of a Jamaican supergroup such as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones was still just a dream, and sits in on the launch of their international career with "Get Up, Stand Up", "I Shot the Sheriff", and the groundbreaking Burnin′ and Catch a Fire albums that brought together Reggae music and Rastafari consciousness, starting a revolution that would change rock music and contemporary world culture. [17] [18]
This musical documentary was chosen to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Marley's passing in film festivals around the world, including: official selection at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2011; [19] official selection at Jamaica's Reggae Film Festival 2011, winning a UNESCO Honor Award; [20] official selection at the Rhode Island International Film Festival 2011; [21] official selection at the DocMiami International Film Festival 2011; [22] official selection at the Festival de Cine Documental de la Ciudad de Mexico 2011; [23] official selection at the Buffalo International Film Festival 2011; [24] official selection at the Hawaii International Film Festival 2011; [25] Bob Marley Charity Gala New York Premiere at the Tribeca Cinemas in Manhattan sponsored by Caribbean Education Foundation [26] CEO Nikiki Bogle; [27] [28] official selection at the Festival Internacional de Cine de Valdivia 2011; [29] official selection at the Hollywood Black Film Festival 2011; [30] official selection at the Maryland International Film Festival 2011; [31] official selection at the Rototom Sunsplash European Reggae Festival 2011; official selection at the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival 2011; nomination for Best Feature; [32] official selection at the Silicon Valley Film Festival 2011; [33] official selection at the Hawaii International Film Festival 2011. [25]
Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend had its London premiere at the British Film Institute (NFT1) on December 17, 2011. [34]
In 1976, Anderson received the Trendsetter Award at a ceremony organised by Billboard magazine on behalf of Denny Cordell of Mango Records and Chris Blackwell of Island Records in New York for introducing reggae to the American market.[ citation needed ]
In 1981, the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, made Anderson an honorary citizen for her contribution to films and music.[ citation needed ]
In 2015, she received the Voice of a Woman Distinction Award for outstanding contributions to film in a career that has spanned over 50 years. [35]
In 2016, Councilwoman Barbara Kramer presented Anderson with an official city proclamation declaring February 26 as "Esther Anderson Community Arts Day" on behalf of the City of North Miami Beach Cultural Committee for encouraging cultural events that celebrate music, film and photography and for her dedication to the arts over the past 40 years. [36]
She currently lives and works in London and Paris.[ citation needed ]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | The Avengers | Lala | TV series |
| 1968 | Dixon of Dock Green | Sally Tate | TV series |
| 1968 | The Wednesday Play | Esla (English – Born and Bred) | TV series |
| 1975 | The Rookies | Pamela (two episodes) | TV series |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Genghis Khan | Concubine | Movie |
| 1966 | Theatre of Death | La Poule | Movie |
| 1968 | The Touchables | Melanie | Movie |
| 1969 | Two Gentlemen Sharing | Caroline | Movie |
| 1970 | One More Time | Billie | Movie |
| 1973 | A Warm December | Catherine | Movie |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Short Ends | Writer/Director/Composer/Producer | Movie |
| 2007 | The Three Dumas | Writer/Director/Producer | Documentary |
| 2011 | Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend | Writer/Director/Composer/Producer | Documentary |
Catch a Fire is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers, released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had started laying down tracks for JAD Records when a disputed CBS contract with Danny Sims created tensions. The band did not have enough money to return to Jamaica, so their road manager Brent Clarke approached producer Chris Blackwell, who agreed to advance The Wailers money for an album. They instead used this money to pay their fares back home, where they completed the recordings that constitute Catch a Fire. The album has nine songs, two of which were written and composed by Peter Tosh; the remaining seven were by Bob Marley. While Bunny Wailer is not credited as a writer, the group's writing style was a collective process. For the immediate follow-up album, Burnin', also released in 1973, he contributed four songs. After Marley returned with the tapes to London, Blackwell reworked the tracks at Island Studios, with contributions by Muscle Shoals session musician Wayne Perkins, who played guitar on three overdubbed tracks. The album had a limited original release under the name The Wailers in a sleeve depicting a Zippo lighter, designed by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner; subsequent releases had an alternative cover designed by John Bonis, featuring an Esther Anderson portrait of Marley smoking a "spliff", and crediting the band as Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Jamaican culture consists of the religion, norms, values, and lifestyle that define the people of Jamaica. The culture is mixed, with an ethnically diverse society, stemming from a history of inhabitants beginning with the original inhabitants of Jamaica. The Spaniards originally brought slavery to Jamaica. Then they were overthrown by the English. Jamaica later gained emancipation on 1 August 1838, and independence from the British on 6 August 1962. Black slaves became the dominant cultural force as they suffered and resisted the harsh conditions of forced labour. After the abolition of slavery, Chinese and Indian migrants were transported to the island as indentured workers, bringing with them ideas from their country.
Bob Marley and the Wailers were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer.
Damian Robert Nesta “Jr. Gong” Marley is a Jamaican reggae musician. The second youngest child of Bob Marley, he is the recipient of four Grammy Awards.
Alfarita Constantia "Rita" Marley OJ OD is a Cuban-born Jamaican singer-songwriter and entrepreneur. She is the widow of reggae legend Bob Marley. Along with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, Rita was a member of the reggae vocal group the I Threes, the backing vocalists for Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Reggae Sunsplash was a reggae music festival held annually in Jamaica from 1978 to 1996, with additional events in 1998 and 2006. The festival expanded to include international tours in 1985 and was revived as a virtual event in 2020 by Tryone Wilson, Debbie Bissoon and Randy.
Marcia Llyneth Griffiths is a Jamaican singer best known for the 1989 remix of her single "Electric Boogie", which serves as the music for the four-wall "Electric Slide" line dance. It is the best-selling single of all time by a female reggae singer.
Nasio Fontaine, also known simply as Nasio, is a reggae artist from the Commonwealth of Dominica.
Carolyn Cooper CD is a Jamaican author, essayist and literary scholar. She is a former professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. From 1975 to 1980, she was an assistant professor at Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster, Massachusetts. In 1980, she was appointed as a lecturer in the Department of Literatures in English at the University of the West Indies (UWI), where she continued to work until her retirement as a professor in 2017. Also a newspaper journalist, Cooper writes a weekly column for the Sunday Gleaner.
Robert Nesta Marley was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide and became a global figure in popular culture. He became known as a Rastafarian icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. Marley is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity and was controversial in his outspoken support for democratic social reforms. Marley also supported the legalisation of cannabis and advocated for Pan-Africanism.
The Jamaica women's national football team, nicknamed the "Reggae Girlz", represents Jamaica in international women's football. They are one of the top women's national football teams in the Caribbean region along with Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti. In 2008, the team was disbanded after it failed to get out of the group stage of Olympic Qualifying, which notably featured the United States and Mexico. The program was restarted in 2014 after a nearly six-year hiatus, finishing second at the 2014 Women's Caribbean Cup after losing 1–0 against Trinidad and Tobago in the final. The team is backed by ambassador Cedella Marley, the daughter of Bob Marley; she helps raise awareness for the team, encourages development, and provides for it financially. Jamaica qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time in 2019, but the team was eliminated after losing all its matches in the group stage. At the 2023 World Cup Jamaica made the Round of 16 for the first time, after holding both France and Brazil to 0–0 draws and winning their first ever match at a World Cup against Panama 1–0.
Choc'late Allen is a child activist who arose to national awareness in early 2007 by engaging in a 5-day fast in an effort to promote the concept of taking personal responsibility for individual thoughts and actions, in order to treat with social issues plaguing Trinidad and Tobago. During her fasting process, the young CEO of Caribbean Vizion, received visits from many citizens and dignitaries, including then-opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and then-Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
Miss Jamaica World is a national beauty pageant in Jamaica that selects a contestant to represent the country in the Miss World beauty pageant.
Oracabessa is a small town in Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica 16 kilometres (10 mi) east of Ocho Rios. Its population is nearly 7,000. Lit in the afternoons by an apricot light that may have inspired its Spanish name, Oracabeza, or "Golden Head," Oracabessa's commercial district consists of a covered produce market and a few shops and bars. The main street is a narrow promenade with a number of well-maintained buildings in the early 20th-century Jamaican vernacular tradition.
Carlene Davis is a Jamaican gospel and reggae singer active since the 1970s. Successful since the early 1980s as a reggae artist, she survived cancer in the mid-1990s, after which she dedicated her career to gospel music. She has released over ten albums.
Gian Godoy RIBA Part 1 is a filmmaker, architectural designer and artist.
Neville O'Riley Livingston, known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music. He was also known as Jah B, Bunny O'Riley, and Bunny Livingston.
Winston Hubert McIntosh, professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963–1976), after which he established himself as a successful solo artist and a promoter of Rastafari. He was murdered in 1987 during a home invasion.
Anna-Sharé Blake, known professionally as Sevana, is a Jamaican singer and actress. As part of In.Digg.Nation Collective, Sevana released her self-titled EP in 2016. She made her major label debut in 2020 with Be Somebody.
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