Arts veteran Fitz Weir passes on

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Relatives and members of the local theatre community said farewell last week to actor Fitz Weir, a veteran of numerous pantomimes, plays, television and radio shows, who died June 20 at age 76.

Family friend Quindell Ferguson told The Gleaner that Weir died from a heart attack.

Two services were held for the diminutive Weir who appeared in pantomimes such as The Witch, plays like Undercover Lover, and the radio drama, The Fortunes of Flora Lee. The first was held on July 14 at St Andrew Scots Kirk church in downtown Kingston, with the second taking place four days later at the Bible Truth Church of God in his hometown of Free Town in Glengoffe, St Catherine.

The first service was attended by a who's who of local theatre led by playwright Barbara Gloudon, who gave the eulogy. Fellow playwrights Ed Wallace and Louis Marriott, actors Dorothy Cunningham, Glen Campbell, Volier Johnson and Ruth HoShing also turned out to pay respect.

Delroy Gordon is deputy executive director at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commis-sion, where Weir worked for over 25 years as a parish and regional manager. He described him as a "walking library".

"Fitz was very friendly, very jovial. He loved to talk and share," Gordon told The Gleaner.

Weir spent a lifetime in the arts, appearing in more than 20 pantomimes, the first of which was 1956's Anancy and Beenie Bud. He also had roles in plays like Married Life and television shows including Life With The Littles, Sam Sharpe and Lime Tree Lane.

He also had small roles in the movies Smile Orange, The Mighty Quinn and Cool Runnings. Dulcimina and Wrong Move were two of the radio shows on which he worked.

Weir enjoyed renewed popularity in recent years through a television advertisement for the Mother's restaurant. In it, he uttered the catchy line, "Gimme everything!"

Fitz Weir is survived by two younger sisters, Doreen Bingham and Clair Montgomery, and several nephews.