Tourism industry loses hospitality icon Robert Russell | Lead Stories

WESTERN BUREAU:

Jamaica has lost one of its most iconic figures in the entertainment and hospitality industry.

Robert ‘Ducksie’ Russell, one of the founding fathers of the internationally acclaimed Reggae Sumfest festival and owner of the popular Montego Bay waterfront eatery Pier One, died at the Hospiten Hospital in Rose Hall, St James, yesterday after ailing for months.

Russell, who was 76 years old, was discharged from hospital on Monday after spending two weeks being treated there. He returned to the facility Wednesday afternoon and was admitted at the intensive care unit, where he died shortly after.

His death has sent shock waves throughout the city of Montego Bay, where he resided for the last 40 years.

Describing Russell as a Trojan, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett said the tourism family mourns the passing of one of its outstanding sons, “who was truly a multifaceted and extremely effective partner in the industry. He distinguished himself in so many areas, in business. He has many success stories, famous of which is the Pier One”.

Bartlett continued: “Of course he was the mastermind behind the greatest reggae show on earth, Reggae Sumfest, which placed Montego Bay on the international musical stage and has enabled the city to be dubbed the reggae capital of Jamaica and, arguably, the world.”

In 2007, Bartlett appointed Russell chairman of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), which he said the late businessman served with distinction until 2011.

“A grateful nation honoured him with the Order of Distinction in the Commander Class in 2017 and has etched his name indelibly in the pantheon of the great entertainment entrepreneurs,” stated the tourism minister.

Born in 1948, Russell was raised in Kingston, Jamaica. Although he began his secondary education at Calabar High, he soon transferred to St George’s College, where he was introduced to the film industry.

From there, he began to pursue a career in film and in the late 1960s began working with a film production company called Vista Production Ltd, headed by the late director-producer Perry Henzell.

Although his desires were set on feature films, Russell and the group began making commercials, resulting in good business from these ventures. However, all agreed they wanted to make a feature film, and by the 1970s, the company began working on a film that to this day, is arguably Jamaica’s best: The Harder They Come, starring Jimmy Cliff.

“Working with Perry Henzell, I was the assistant director for The Harder They Come … . I was, basically, responsible for finding locations and scouting talent for the film,” Russell told The Gleaner in 2006.

The film, which went on to gross millions worldwide, was just the beginning for the young film-maker,who, from his experience, saw the immense potential Jamaica had for a vibrant movie industry.

Although a film-maker at heart, Russell was also a true businessman. While filming the local blockbuster, he was already running a real estate company on Duke Street in Kingston.

When the movie was about to be released, Russell moved to Ocho Rios in St Ann and started the first all-inclusive hotel in Port Antonio, Portland, called Little Madness. After a few years, he moved to the cool western town of Mandeville. There, he began the operation of multiple business entities, each of which garnered success in its own right.

Among other entities, Russell opened a nightclub called Tunnel 10, a jerk centre called The Dení, a Chinese restaurant called Feeding Tree, and a newspaper called Central Express. He spent approximately a decade in the Manchester town, where he also married Beverly Russell, who bore him four children. In the early ‘90s, after purchasing and developing Pier One, he and other persons in the Montego Bay community became aware that they were about to lose the annual Reggae Sunsplash event, on which the Second City’s economy depended highly.

“A group of friends and associates got together and decided that the city’s economy was geared toward the event, so when it was confirmed that there would be no Sunsplash in 1993, we decided to create our own,” said Russell.

For 10 years, Russell also co-produced the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.

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