T&T Guardian associate editor HALCIAN PIERRE has been a long-time fan of actress Shirley King who passed away yesterday. Pierre, an artist, hosted an exhibition in April and one of the pieces was a portrait of King. She gave the proceeds from the sale of the painting to King who was battling illness and coping with the loss of her home in a fire. Today, she pays tribute to one of this country's most popular cultural icons.
Upon hearing of comedic actress Shirley King's passing, my heart broke. I was still getting used to the recent loss of her husband Melville, who had also been very ill.
My first (and now only) visit to the couple was back in May. Her home had burned down last November while she was hospitalised for asthma and fundraising efforts began soon after.
She had been experiencing knee issues due to osteoarthritis and was using a wheelchair, but it didn't stop her acting, as evidenced by her role as the neighbour Betty in the play, The Kuchursingh Family. Sadly, by the time I was able to visit her in Enterprise, she had suffered a stroke and was unable to speak. Still, as I sat with her and held her hand and told her how much I loved her and her performances over the years and hoped my little token would be able to assist their fundraising efforts, her expressive brown eyes said volumes.
In her heyday, those eyes and her many facial expressions would make you convulse with laughter, even coupled with her trademark grimace in the Buckley's Cough Syrup poster. I remember how she shone in Calabash Alley as the bacchanalist Mabel, and on stage with Tommy Joseph in the play Tarzan and Jane.
For me, King, who we loved as Beulah–a stage name adapted from many Freddie Kissoon plays and television series as a member of the Strolling Players–was more than a comic.
She was all of us, she was everywhere, and she represented. Christmas time we looked forward to seeing her and fellow comedian Errol "Stalk" St Hill (who many were convinced was her real-life husband) doing advertisements for Solo ginger beer, and I love how she whispered, "If only Solo used to make punch a cr�me, pastelle, fruit cake, coconut sweetbread..."
Before that, they said anybody could be a painter with Kaleidoscope paint, because "it tough and durable and top quality" like Beulah, and "long lasting and colourful" like St Hill.
She even used to come to borrow every single Naisa product from St Hill's kitchen, including the potato and sardine casserole he just baked. Before leaving, she shouts, "And keep yuh casserole fuh me eh?"
Indeed, hers was a simple life, made even more colourful with her talents. Born in Point Fortin in 1942, she was the first of seven children.
Though academically inclined, she was unable to attend secondary school as her family could not afford it, but that did not stop her from becoming a secondary school teacher later on in life.
She was also a wife and a mother of three who loved to cook, was active in her church and who was able to do lots for her community.
King was presented with the Humming Bird Medal (silver) in 1998, awarded for her contribution to the arts, and that same year received a Cacique Lifetime Achievement Award and a citation from the borough of Brooklyn, New York, for her acting skills.
Without a doubt, Shirley King belonged to all of us, and I take comfort in the fact that I was able to thank her in person for giving us the gift of laughter.
Rest in Peace, my Beulah.