Oliver Samuels (born 9 November 1948) is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n comedian and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is often described as the Jamaican "King of Comedy", performing both

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

and comic theatre.

Career

Samuels found fame on the popular

Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) was a public broadcasting company in Jamaica founded in 1959 by premier Norman Manley with the aim of emulating the success of other national broadcasting companies such as the BBC and CBC.Thomas, Pradip ...

's television series ''Oliver at Large'', created by producer Calvin Butler and playwright Aston Cooke. Nine of the thirteen episodes of the original series, including the pilot episode, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, were written by prolific Jamaican playwright, Patrick Brown. In this series, Samuels played his alter ego Olivius Adams, aka Oliver. The series featured sketches from Oliver's exploits, often with his sidekick, Maffi—a character created by Patrick Brown. Oliver has subsequently appeared in several Patrick Brown plays, including ''Large Abroad'', ''Oliver's Posse'' (1999), ''Oliver and Pinocchio'' (2001), and ''Oliver and the Genie'' (2002). Samuels, known by most through ''Oliver at Large'', has combined a career in marketing with life on stage, touring every year between spring and summer before returning home for his executive offices at Mack D's—the Kingston-based company where he is a director and head of marketing and public relations. Abroad, he is known as Jamaica's

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

, and is a brand name that is synonymous with Jamaica and laughter. Samuels is widely regarded as one of the funniest talents to emerge from the Caribbean. In addition to his work with a local car company, Samuels was recently selected by the wire transfer service Unitransfer to star in a series of advertisements that will market their products to Florida's Caribbean community. Samuels also piloted the launch of "Oliver's Yaad Cyaad", which features Samuels giving instructions in

Patois ''Patois'' (, pl. same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon o ...

and standard English. The unique feature of Patois prompts is a first for the international calling-card industry. As well as having a large following in Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, Samuels frequently tours

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and North America, playing to the Caribbean ex-pat community.

Filmography

Plays

''Common Law'' as Winston 6 November (2009) ''Midnight at Puss Creek'' (2011)

References

External links

''Jamaican Gleaner''

"Jamaicans in the UK Pay Tribute to Oliver Samuels"
Jamaica Information Service, 12 November 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels, Oliver Jamaican comedians Jamaican male television actors 1948 births Living people 20th-century Jamaican male actors 21st-century Jamaican male actors