VETERAN actress and public relations consultant Christine Ann Bell died last evening. She was 59. “She died about 7:30 pm in the Andrews Memorial Hospital,” Carmen Patterson, Bell’s business associate for 11 years, told the Observer.

It was unclear up to press time what caused her death. However, Patterson said that Bell had been ailing for about six months, but declined to comment further.

Bell, who was principal of the St Andrewbased PR company Innovative Ideas, which she founded 17 years ago, also had a sterling career in the dramatic arts, having appeared in a number of local stage presentations. However, most Jamaicans will remember her for her role in the local soap Royal Palm Estate in which she appeared as Rose Madden, the wife of police inspector Trevor Madden, played by Bobby Finzi-Smith.

Last night, Patterson remembered her colleague as the consummate professional.

“She was a genuine professional and was highly respected in the profession of public relations and (was) also one of the island’s gifted and leading actresses,” Patterson said.

“Ms Bell never hesitated to help people in need, even at her own sacrifice,” she added.

Mark Thomas, past president of the Public Relations Society of Jamaica, remembered Bell as an accomplished writer and elocutionist.

“She was the guardian of the English language and one of the doyennes of the profession,” Thomas said, adding that she was quick to impart her knowledge to young PR professionals.

“It’s a colossal loss. She will be sorely missed,” he added.

Scarlett Beharrie, president of the Jamaica Association of Dramatic Artists (JADA), said the theatre community was deeply saddened by her passing.

“The theatre community has lost a stalwart and champion who fought for us at every level,” said Beharrie. “We have lost not only a great actress, but an administrator and lobbyist.”

Beharrie said that Bell’s last appearance on stage was in 2010 in Basil Dawkins’s Josephine’s Night Out. The proceeds of her performance were donated to launching the Theatre Artistes Benevolent Fund.

Bell, former chairman of the Actor Boy Awards Committee and founding member of JADA, also appeared in other local productions by top Jamaican playwrights Ginger Knight, Lenford Salmon and Ed Wallace. She, however, credited director Dennis Scott for giving her her big break in Sala.

“She was a close friend and mentor,” Beharrie continued.

Bell has won three Best Actress in a Lead Role Actor Boy Awards for Louis Marriott’s Office Chase; Lenford Salmon’s State of Emergency and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun.

Bell is survived by two sons — David-Anthony Smellie and Iyun Harrison — and mother Zillbell Rose.