OLU JACOBS, THIS STAR WON’T GO OUT

Bukola Lasisi

With his imposing gait and infectious baritone voice, Oludotun Bayewumi Jacobs (MFR) is one actor that keeps viewers glued to the screen for as long as the movie lasts. His personality and perfect interpretation of roles, lilting delivery of his dialogues, good command of the English language, and suspenseful roles in every film he stars in is legendary. His hallmarks on the chequered history of the Nigerian motion picture world have been illustrious, robust and expansive.

Bayewumi, a method actor whose flawless artistry has endeared him to hearts across the globe, is revered and referred to as Africa’s Priceless Thespian (APT). He combines Top of the Mind Awareness (TOMA) and Upper Mind Share as a brand. As an actor, he is the face of real Nollywood. As a husband, he is a capsule of affection and tenderness. As a father, he is responsible and responsive. As a man, he is a detribalised gentleman. And has a countryman, he is patriotic Nigerian par excellence.

Prominent in all ramifications, both in stature and substance, Uncle Olu, as his colleagues and teeming admirers fondly call him, has not only defined the path but has left a beacon on the way on which many budding stars have thrived in the make-believe world.

Olu Jacobs is a world-acclaimed actor, highly cerebral and celebrated globally for his unique craftsmanship as a thespian. He is an international multi-award-winning actor, writer, producer, television personality, scriptwriter, television broadcaster, and businessman. He is one of the pioneer cross-over actors in Nollywood who has made his mark over the years and remains relevant to date, as he keeps being on top of his game from generation to generation.

With a career of over five decades, Jacobs has played a fundamental role in the conception of Nollywood as an industry and the entire Nigerian entertainment industry. As a result, Olu Jacobs has been hailed by many as one of his generation’s greatest and most widely respected African actors. He is considered by several media, film commentators, purists, critics, and other actors to be one of the most influential African actors of all time, and he is widely regarded as the bridge between the old actors and the new ones, and a motivator to upcoming actors.

Bayewumi, a method actor whose flawless artistry has endeared him to hearts across the globe, is revered and referred to as Africa’s Priceless Thespian (APT). He combines Top of the Mind Awareness (TOMA) and Upper Mind Share as a brand. As an actor, he is the face of real Nollywood. As a husband, he is a capsule of affection and tenderness. As a father, he is responsible and responsive. As a man, he is a detribalised gentleman. And has a countryman, he is patriotic Nigerian par excellence.

Oludotun Bayewu Jacobs, popularly known as Olu Jacobs, was born on 11th July 1942 to Egba Alake’s parents. He is originally from Abeokuta in Ogun State, South-Western region of Nigeria.

He spent his early childhood in Kano, where his parents resided and attended Holy Trinity School. He was a member of the debating and drama societies. He had basic primary and secondary education in Kano at Holy Trinity School. After that, he moved to England to further his education at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), where he got his Theatre Arts Degree.

Jacobs had always been an innate art aficionado, but he never felt a connection until a particular day when he was “sent on an errand” by his mother. His parents were adamantly against his choice, his father especially. However, this did not deter him from pursuing his long-life dream of becoming an actor. Through his participation in arts from a tender age, he built the rudiments of acting.

“One day, I was sent on an errand, and I heard this music coming from the back of a lorry. I picked one of the leaflets and saw Ogunde Concert Party. Then I put it in my pocket. When I got home, I called my mother and said I saw this, and she said they always come every year. So I said I would go, and we all went. It was played in one hotel called Colonial Hotel. They were dancing and talking, and everywhere was booming. My dad and the family were talking, but I didn’t talk. I was watching the atmosphere. Then the light went off, and the stage light came up. And they did what Ogunde called the opening glee (beginning of the show). That was the point I made up my mind I would be an actor.”

His love for acting was inspired by the late legendary filmmaker Hubert Ogunde’s annual concert party at Colonial Hotel in Kano. Talking about his journey into the world of make-believe, he said, “I was very close to the church. I was a member of the choir, dancing, and drama group. We had festivals every year in the church, and I was the only male in the group, but that didn’t stop me. I made more money than the girls, and it was fun. Even in school, I did that, and my parents were always coming to see what I was doing because I would nag them to submission. Then after a while, they too began to come willingly.”

Olu Jacobs broke into British Television in his 20s. Olu Jacobs got his first acting role while in London. After a successful audition, he bagged a role in his first movie, “The Vigilante, ” produced by AA Production. Subsequently, many other roles were to follow as he established himself as an actor of note in various British television series and shows in the 70s. Olu Jacobs starred in the political tragedy and comedy play Murderous Angels performed in the 1971 edition of the Dublin theatre festival. In 1978, the actor played the role of president Mageeba in Michael Cordon’s presentation of Tom Stoppard’s play Night and Day. He also appeared in various British television shows and series, including The Goodies, Till Death Us Do Part, Barlow at Large, The Venturers, Angels, 1990, The Tomorrow People and The Professionals.

Olu Jacobs as Immigration Officer in the film, Dogs of War

In the 1980s, Jacobs appeared in several international films, including John Irvin’s war film The Dogs of War, Roman Polanski’s adventure-comedy Pirates (1986) and the family-adventure film Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985). On television, he was a cast member in TVS’s The Witches and the Grinnygog.

A snippet from The Dogs of War  https://youtu.be/-7I4uwJ9v1U

After over 20 years of working in London as an actor, he returned to Nigeria to put the knowledge and experience he had acquired into work. When he returned to Nigeria, the movie industry was structureless, but he was confident he had made the right decision. He became one of the pioneers of Nollywood. Through hard work and dedication, he navigated through the demanding task of film production in a newly conceived and unprofitable industry as at that time.

Olu Jacobs and Joke Silva on their wedding

Olu Jacobs met his wife, Joke Silva, in Lagos when he returned to Nigeria. It was on the set of a stage play. The two married in 1989 and became a power couple as his wife is also a veteran and role model in acting herself. The couple founded and operates the LUFODO Group, a media corporation comprising film production, distribution assets and the LUFODO Academy of Performing Arts. The academy is known for training movie practitioners in acting, directing, producing, script-writing, photography, costuming, makeup, editing, modelling, set design and other aspects of filmmaking. They have two sons, Olusoji and Olugbenga.

Jacobs answered why his wife still bears her maiden name,” She is her own individual. When I met her, she was an actress known as Joke Silva, so why should marrying me now deny her name and her audience. She was Miss Joke Silva, who is now Mrs Joke Jacobs. It is as simple as that. People now begin to say what they like. They have even written that we are separated and all sorts of stuff. When she is working, she is Joke Silva, but Mrs Joke Jacobs is at home.” Together, they have raised a generation of actors that have taken the Nigerian film industry to greater heights by impacting experience-based knowledge in their budding minds.

The Nollywood Veteran has featured in many films and TV series in the Nigerian film industry. In 1987, he was invited by the government to help start a Television series titled Second Chance. Olu Jacobs worked on the production, and the show was ready by November. The second chance was a hit and paved the way for other movies like Iva (1993), Another Love (1996), Obstacles (1998), Twins of the Rain Forest (short), End time, Oganigwe, Aba Riot (all 1999); Private Sin, The Kingmaker, Ago Kan Oru, Mission to Africa (all 2003); Eye of the Gods, Turn Table (both 2004); Soul on Fire, To Love a Stranger, Ultimate Crisis, Women in Power, A Time to Die, Omaliko, One God One Nation, Opin Irin Ajo (all 2005); The Prince and Me, One-Bullet, Royal Doom (2006). Jacobs has subsequently starred in over 200 Nollywood films. He is considered one of the top Nigerian Nollywood actors.

Longevity doesn’t necessarily bestow prestige; it is deep in his haystacks of creative credits. Olu Jacobs is a multi-award-winning actor who has received significant awards outside and within the county. On 25th June 2011, Jacobs was given a standing ovation at the closing ceremony of the 15^th Ecrans Noirs film festival in Yaoundé, Cameroun. The ecstatic audience greeted him as he received the Prix Charles Mensah (Ecran d’ Honneur) for his outstanding lifetime contribution as an actor of local and international success, especially for his contribution to the development of Nollywood in Africa. Other awards include:

• Most prominent actor in Nigeria at the Africa Magic Views Choice Award
• Best actor in Nigeria at the Africa Movie Academy
• Best actor of the year at the Golden Icon Movie Academy Awards
• Best actor in lead role ‘dancing heart” by African movie academy awards AMAA
• Recognition and National Honors of Members of The Federal Republic (MFR) by Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan 2011
• Merit award for outstanding achievement in acting, Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards, (AMVCA) 2013
• Nollywood’s most promising actor in Nigeria at the City People Entertainment Awards, 2015
• Best actor in supporting role “Oloibiri” by African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) 2017
• He was also conferred with a lifetime achievement in 2016 by African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA)

Even at an old age, Olu Jacobs remains relevant in the movie industry and is rated among the very best; however, due to his health and age, he rarely stars in movies now, but has paid his dues and is no doubt a successful actor. Even outside the screen and stage, the living legend continues to permeate our souls with hundreds of works he has featured. Oludotun Bayewumi Jacobs (MFR) is a STAR that won’t go out in our hearts even when the hell goes cold. He is a priceless prince of all hearts whose footprints in the sands of time may never be equated.

Olu  Jacobs is considered one of the most talented, experienced, inventive, and gifted actors in Nigeria. His talent allows him to translate the content of any character and role that he is given.

The Nollywood Icon appeared with his wife at the AFRIFF Globe Awards in November 2021. In addition, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing to the Nigerian Movie Industry.

Today , 11^th July, 2022 makes the 80 years, 960 months, 4174 weeks, 29,220 days, 701,280 hours, 42,076,800 minutes and 2,524,608,000 seconds on earth. Happy birthday to a LIVING LEGEND.

 

 

Picture credits- Internet

Video credits – Zangarozen on YouTube