Wed | Apr 22, 2026

IOJ lauds George Carter

Published:Thursday | January 28, 2016 | 12:00 AM
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George Carter (right) with Professor Fred Hickling.
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George Carter (right) receives the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander (CD) from His Excellency Governor General Sir Patrick Allen during the National Honours and Awards Ceremondy at King's House in 2011.
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In this 1964 file photo, George Carter (centre) of the Little Theatre Movement (LTM) escorts the Canadian High Commissioner Graham McInnes (left) and Mrs McInnes to their seats for the opening performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' at Vale Royal, St Andrew.
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The Chairman and Council of the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) have paid tribute to Jamaican theatre pioneer, George Washington Carter, OD, who died in Raleigh, North Carolina, last weekend during the mammoth snowstorm that pounded the United States' East Coast.

Carter, popularly known as 'Mr C', had an illustrious career in theatre and was awarded the Silver Musgrave Medal in 1972. He later copped the Institute of Jamaica Centenary Medal in 1980.

He would have celebrated his 100th birthday on April 5.

In paying tribute to Carter, chairman of Council of the Institute, Ambassador Burchell Whiteman, OJ, recalled his sterling contribution to Jamaica's theatre movement, having served in several capacities. He was general manager of the Little Theatre Movement (LTM), technical director and a founding member of the National Dance Theatre Company and advisory board member of the Jamaica School of Drama.

Ambassador Whiteman noted that Carter was so skilled that he was called to national service as pioneer organiser of the first Jamaica National Festival of Arts in 1955, as well as pioneer organiser of the Jamaica Independence Festival and the Leeward Island Arts Festival.

Carter served the Jamaican theatre movement from the 1940s until his retirement in 2001 as manager and lighting expert at the LTM.

The IOJ extended its condolences to the family and friends of George Carter, a proud son of Jamaica who will be sadly missed, but noted that his work lives on in the legacy of the Jamaican theatre movement.