ALMOST A YEAR after closing the doors of his life’s work, The Globe Cinema, Zaid Ali died yesterday.
The 93-year-old patriarch of the well-known Ali family was interred in the afternoon. He came to Barbados from Trinidad in 1956 to manage The Globe.
Born August 18, 1919, Zaid was the grandson of an indentured servant sent from the Himalayas to Trinidad. That indentured servant became a wealthy cocoa plantation owner and founder of the Globe Cinema in Port-of-Spain, which his son Noor Gokool expanded into three cinemas across the island and in at least two other Caribbean countries.
One of those countres was Barbados, where The Globe on Roebuck Street was first managed by Maurice Jones before Noor sent Zaid to take over.
“As a father he worked seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.,” said Rasheed “Russ” Ali, one of Zaid’s nine children.
Ali donated to charities and individuals and hosted Rediffusion’s Children’s Party and the Miss Barbados pageant.
“He worked up until three months before his death, going to the office in Roebuck Street every day,” Russ added, describing him as a dedicated family man who took his Muslim faith seriously, particularly in the last 30 years.
Zaid closed The Globe on December 31 last year.
“He closed it and closed his life. That was the end of his chapter,” said his daughter Lila.
