Nollywood giant Olu Jacobs dies at 84

Keypoints:

Olu Jacobs dies aged 84
Career spanned Britain and Nollywood
Tributes honour a screen legend

NOLLYWOOD has lost one of its most commanding figures after veteran Nigerian actor Olu Jacobs died at 84, ending a career that stretched from British theatre and television to the heart of Nigeria’s globally influential film industry.

Jacobs’ death closes a remarkable chapter in African screen history. For more than five decades, he helped connect formal theatrical training, international screen work and the rise of Nollywood, becoming one of the industry’s most recognisable elder statesmen and an inspiration to generations of actors.

His son, Olusoji Jacobs, announced the death on Instagram on Wednesday, September 16, saying the family was giving thanks for ‘a life well lived and fought’.

The family described Jacobs as ‘The Lion of Lufodo’, referring to the Lufodo Group, the media and performing arts organisation associated with Jacobs and his wife, veteran actress Joke Silva.

Jacobs, whose full name was Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, was born on July 11, 1942. No cause of death has been announced.

From British stage to African screens

Born in Kano to an Egba Alake family with roots in Abeokuta, Jacobs developed an interest in acting while still young. Watching celebrated Nigerian theatre pioneer Hubert Ogunde perform helped convince him to pursue acting professionally.

He later travelled to Britain and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, giving him a strong theatrical foundation before a career that would eventually stretch across continents.

During the 1970s, Jacobs appeared in British television productions including The Goodies, Till Death Us Do Part, The Professionals and The Tomorrow People.

His international film work later included The Dogs of War, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend and Roman Polanski’s Pirates.

That international experience became an important part of his standing when he returned to Nigeria and became deeply involved in the country’s expanding film industry.

A defining face of Nollywood

Jacobs became familiar to millions of African viewers through roles as kings, chiefs, fathers, politicians and other figures of authority.

His deep voice, deliberate delivery and imposing screen presence made him particularly associated with traditional rulers and patriarchs, but his body of work stretched across theatre, television and film.

He belonged to the generation that gave Nollywood some of its most recognisable stars as Nigerian films spread throughout Africa and the diaspora.

The industry Jacobs helped shape has since become an increasingly global cultural force. Africa Briefing has documented Nollywood’s growing international ambitions, as well as the way Nigerian filmmakers are finding new audiences through YouTube.

Awards crowned a remarkable career

Jacobs’ performances earned him some of African cinema’s major honours.

He won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2007 and later received the Industry Merit Award at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.

Nigeria also conferred on him the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2011 in recognition of his contribution to the arts.

Alongside Silva, Jacobs was closely associated with the Lufodo Group and Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, extending his influence beyond acting into production and the training of younger performers.

Tributes honour a cultural giant

Tributes poured in after news of his death was announced.

Former Nigerian Vice-President Atiku Abubakar described Jacobs as ‘an institution, a cultural icon and one of the finest ambassadors of our creative spirit’, saying the actor had become part of Nigeria’s collective memory long before Nollywood gained international prominence.

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, hailed him as a ‘consummate actor’ and ‘legend of the stage’, while actors, comedians and other entertainers also paid tribute.

For many Nigerians, Jacobs represented an era in which a relatively young domestic film industry developed personalities capable of commanding audiences across national borders.

Health struggle marked later years

Jacobs had lived with dementia with Lewy bodies during his later years.

Silva publicly disclosed the diagnosis in 2021, saying the degenerative condition had affected her husband for several years.

His reduced public appearances later fuelled repeated false reports of his death, which the family was forced to deny on several occasions.

The family has not linked that condition to his death, and no official cause has been disclosed.

A legacy beyond one generation

Jacobs’ death comes as Nigerian cinema enters another phase of international expansion, with African filmmakers seeking stronger distribution, financing and access to global markets.

Africa Briefing has also reported how African cinema is courting international buyers as filmmakers push for greater commercial reach.

For younger Nigerian actors, Jacobs represented something more fundamental: proof that an African performer could build a career across continents while remaining deeply identified with Nigerian storytelling.

His influence also extended beyond individual performances. Through his work with Silva and their investment in performing arts training, Jacobs became part of the infrastructure that helped develop younger creative talent.

The curtain has fallen on one of Nollywood’s towering figures, but the authority of his performances, the performers he inspired and the industry he helped shape ensure that Olu Jacobs’ presence will endure far beyond the screen.