Veteran Nollywood actor, Olu Jacobs passed on this morning aged 82.
Recall that Jacobs, a multiple award-winning actor, has been battling dementia for some time.
In a recent interview, his wife Joke Silva said her husband’s poor health had changed him significantly, adding that Olu Jacobs is no longer the man she walked down the aisle with 37 years ago.
“It hasn’t been easy. There was a point of acceptance for me that everything happening is reality. It is like the person I married, 80 per cent of the time, is no longer there.
“But the thing is this: when he was there, he was an incredible father to his children and an amazing husband. He was practically my best friend,” she explained.
Silva said despite her husband’s health challenge, she has not stopped loving him.
“The husband I knew is no longer there for me. This man that is here is someone I still love, but love in a different way,” she said.
There were no reactions from the family at press time.
His official biography reads:
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Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs was born 11 July 1942 to parents from Egba Alake. He spent his early childhood in Kano and attended Holy Trinity School where he was a member of the debating and drama societies.
He was inspired to take a chance with acting when he attended one of Chief Hubert Ogunde’s annual concert party at Colonial Hotel in Kano. Afterwards, he secured a visa and travelled to England to study acting.
In England, Jacobs trained at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. One of his earliest stage roles was to play the part of The Boy in ‘A Taste of Honey’ at the newly opened Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, in 1972. He then appeared in various British television shows and series in the 1970s (including The Goodies, Till Death Us Do Part, Barlow at Large, The Venturers, Angels, 1990, The Tomorrow People and The Professionals).
In 1978, he played the role of President Mageeba in Michael Codron’s presentation of Sir Tom Stoppard’s play Night and Day.
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. In 1990, upon his return to Nigeria, he starred in the NTA detective series The Third Eye.
Jacobs has subsequently starred in over 120 Nollywood films and is considered one of the top Nigerian Nollywood actors.[3] He has also appeared in television commercials for Ribena and Binatone.
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