Anita "Margarita" Mahfood (died 2 January 1965) was a dancer, actress, and singer in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. She was called "the famous Rhumba queen" and headlined performances. She also performed

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

music, writing and singing her own music, one of the first women in Jamaica to do so. Mahfood was murdered in 1965, by her boyfriend

Don Drummond Don Drummond (12 March 1934 – 6 May 1969) was a Jamaican ska trombonist and composer. He was one of the original members of The Skatalites, and composed many of their tunes. In 1966, Drummond was convicted of murdering his 23-year-old ...

of the

Skatalites The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including " Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many oth ...

band.

Early life

Anita Mahfood was born in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Jamaica. She had three sisters. Her father was Jad Mahfood, a fisherman. Her family were Syrian-Lebanese-Jamaican, with ancestors who emigrated from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

to Jamaica in the 1870s to pursue commercial trade.

Music, life and death

Mahfood lived in east Kingston, on Ocean View Avenue. She was married to Ruldolph Bent, a boxer from

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

, with whom she had two children: Christopher and Suzanne. Starting in the 1950s, Mahfood was a regular in the clubs in Kingston. She frequently performed as a dancer with

Count Ossie Count Ossie, born Oswald Williams (26 March 1926Ancestry.com. Jamaica, Civil Registration Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1878-1995 atabase on-line Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. – 18 October 1976Moskowitz, David V. ...

, who backed her during her performances. Mahfood was scheduled to dance as part of "Opportunity Knocks", a talent showcase at the

Ward Theatre Kingston Theatre, was a theatre in Kingston, Jamaica, between 1775 and 1838. It was a major cultural centre of the island during its duration and had a good reputation also outside of the island, giving Jamaica a name of cultural sophistication, a ...

in Kingston. Promoter

Vere Johns Joseph Vere Everette Johns (28 November 1893 – 10 September 1966)

refused to let Count Ossie back Mahfood because he was a

Rastafarian Rastafari is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much ...

, discrimination of this kind being common during the 1950s. Mahfood refused to perform, knowing that if she did not appear Johns would have a lower attendance at the event. Johns eventually relented and Mahfood performed with Count Ossie and his band. The performance ended up being the first that Count Ossie and his band ever had in front of a mainstream audience. Saxophone player Ferdinand Gaynair said he also had a relationship with her. In the early 1960s, Mahfood met

, trombone player of the

, at Count Ossie's Rastafarian commune in the Wareika Hills. By the time they met, Drummond had

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

and already self-checked himself into

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

in Kingston twice, due to his mental health. Mahfood and her husband had divorced and she and Drummond started living together. Drummond was physically and mentally abusive to Mahfood. He was easily triggered, attacking her in front of bandmates. Mahfood released the single "Woman Come" (also called "Woman A Come") on

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large Anatidae, waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent ...

in 1964. The single featured the Skatalites as her backing band. The Rastafarian-influenced song is a

love letter A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a l ...

to Drummond. On 31 December 1964, Drummond missed the Skatalites' New Year's Eve concert at La Parisienne in Harbour View, after Mahfood accidentally gave him the wrong medication. That night, Mahfood was working at a club in Rockfort. When she returned home from work at 3:30 AM, Drummond attacked her. He stabbed her in the chest four times, killing her instantly. Drummond went to the local police station and claimed that Mahfood had stabbed herself. When the police arrived at the house, Mahfood was dead on the bed, with the knife still in her body, and her hand shoved inside the bell of Drummond's

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

. Drummond was arrested and was represented by the Skatalites' manager. Drummond was found guilty but

criminally insane The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to a psychiatric disease at the time of the criminal act ...

and was committed to Bellevue Hospital, where he died in 1969.

Legacy

In 2013, Mahfood was honoured by the

University of Technology, Jamaica The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech, Ja.), formerly the College of Arts, Science and Technology, is a public university in Jamaica. History The university was founded as the Jamaica Institute of Technology in 1958. The following y ...

, for her contributions to Jamaican music. In 2016, Herbie Miller gave a presentation on Drummond and Mahfood at the Jamaican Music Museum.

Discography

*"Woman Come" (1964) on

records

Filmography

*''It Can Happen to You'' (1956)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahfood, Anita 1965 deaths 20th-century Jamaican women singers Female murder victims Jamaican dancers Jamaican female dancers Jamaican people of Lebanese descent Jamaican reggae singers Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican murder victims Deaths by stabbing in Jamaica