Screenshot of Jamaican actor, broadcaster and writer Leonie Forbes taken from a YouTube video uploaded by Jamaica YouTube TV. Jamaican actor, producer, writer and broadcaster Leonie Forbes passed away on the evening of October 25 at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston. Jamaican netizens remembered Forbes not only for her body of work, but for her warmth, generosity of spirit, and willingness to guide younger practitioners. Greatly admired for her professionalism, Forbes was a household name in the Jamaican cultural landscape and well-known throughout the region. Fondly known as “Auntie” to many Jamaicans, she lived up to the name in that she embodied the qualities of mentor, role model and protector. Breaking News: Leonie Forbes has died. She was one of the foremost names in Jamaican media with an impressive body of work as an actor, journalist and educator. RIP to a lovely human. pic.twitter.com/sGQqIViZGa — Giovanni R. Dennis (@GiovanniRDennis) October 26, 2022 Forbes was born on June 14, 1937, and grew up in Kingston. She was an only child, which may well have contributed to her inventiveness and creativity. After building a solid educational foundation in Jamaica, she left for Canada, where she attended the Durham College of Commerce. Once back home in the early 1950s, she worked as a typist – a common occupation among women of that era – at the Sir Philip Sherlock Centre at the University of the West Indies, and began typing scripts for playwright Barry Reckord. This connection to the world of theatre was strengthened through visits to the newly minted Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC), which she eventually joined as a radio announcer in 1955 and was greatly admired for her diction and smooth delivery. At Reckord’s invitation, Forbes auditioned for and took on a supporting role in a 1957 revival of the pantomime “Busha Bluebeard,” performing in 12 of these annual productions at Kingston's Little Theatre. She took up a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London in 1960, where she studied drama for radio, television and stage, and performed in several productions, including as Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra.” At the same time, Forbes began writing for the BBC Caribbean World Service, and appeared in numerous British television dramas. Returning to Jamaica in 1966, Forbes continued working with the JBC. Two years later, she moved to Australia, where she acted in a number of radio dramas for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) as well as in a production of “The Merchant of Venice.” While there, she taught drama at several schools in Brisbane, Queensland. When she came back to Jamaica, she was appointed as head of Radio Two, JBC’s FM service, and became the overall director of radio broadcasting in 1976. She spearheaded a series of popular radio dramas through the JBC Drama Workshop, including “Let’s Say Grace,” which she wrote herself. Throughout this period, Forbes continued acting in both local and overseas productions, in film, theatre, and television. In 2021, Forbes played a memorable role as Judas’ mother in excerpts from Easton Lee’s Easter play “The Rope and the Cross.” She also played leading roles in plays like “Sea Mama” and Trevor Rhone’s classic “Old Story Time.” Her film credits included “Club Paradise,” “Milk and Honey,” and “Children of Babylon,” among others. Forbes was honoured for her role in “Lord Have Mercy” in 2003, receiving the Gemini Award that year for Best Actress in a comedy-drama. More recently, she was bestowed with a certificate of merit and a citation in acknowledgement of her outstanding body of work by the Consul General of New York. She received Silver and Bronze Musgrave Medals for her contribution to the arts from the Institute of Jamaica, as well as a Centenary Medal, and an Order of Distinction (O.D.) from the Jamaican government in 1980. As a writer, Forbes co-authored “Re-Entry Into Sound,” a standard text used to train broadcasters across the Caribbean. In 2012, she published her autobiography, told to former poet laureate Mervyn Morris, who noted: I have enthusiastically admired many performances by Leonie Forbes, and have expressed my admiration in print. So, although I did not know her well, I was pleased to be asked if I would help with the autobiography she wanted to write. I said yes, and she began to talk her life. Prompted minimally, she gave up information well beyond her involvement in theatre. I was captivated by her story and her way of telling it.