Jimmy Cliff played Ivan Martin, the aspiring singer, in the 1972 film The Harder They Come.
Cliff was both the film’s lead actor and one of its most important musical voices. Ivan’s attempt to enter Kingston’s recording industry gives the movie its central storyline, while Cliff performs songs including the title track and “You Can Get It If You Really Want.”
His performance helped make the film an unusually strong bridge between Jamaican popular music and international cinema. Cliff was already an established singer before acting in the movie, and the soundtrack introduced his music alongside recordings by other major reggae and ska artists.
The role is sometimes incorrectly attributed to Bob Marley because Marley became reggae’s most famous global figure. Marley was not the film’s star. Peter Tosh and Toots Hibbert were also major Jamaican musicians, but neither played Ivan Martin.