Olu Jacobs Dies at 84 After Six Decades on Stage, Screen

Olu Jacobs, Nollywood’s Lion of Lufodo, dies at 84. His son Olusoji Jacobs announced the passing of the RADA-trained veteran

On Wednesday, 16 September 2026, veteran Nigerian actor Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, known as Olu Jacobs, died at the age of 84.

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His son, Olusoji Jacobs, announced the death on Instagram. The family said Olu Jacobs died in the early hours of Wednesday.

Olu Jacobs was born on 11 July 1942 in Kano, with family roots in the Egba Alake community of Abeokuta, Ogun State.

He grew up in Kano and found acting through school drama, debating and church programmes. A performance by Hubert Ogunde strengthened his wish to make a career of the stage.

He later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and worked with British repertoire theatres.

In the 1970s he appeared on British television in The Goodies, Till Death Us Do Part, The Professionals, The Tomorrow People and Barlow at Large.

His film credits included The Dogs of War (1980), Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985) and Roman Polanski’s Pirates (1986).

After that British period he returned to Nigeria and became one of the most familiar faces in Nollywood.

He appeared in hundreds of theatre, television and film productions over more than five decades, often as kings, chiefs, patriarchs and other figures of authority.

His voice, bearing and stage training made him a landmark of African screen acting and part of the generation that helped set the shape of the modern Nigerian film industry.

In 2007 he won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In 2013 he received the Industry Merit Award at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards.

In 2016 he was given the MAA Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2011 the Federal Government made him a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic.

He was married to actress Joke Silva. Together they built the Lufodo Group in production, distribution and training, including the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts.

In later years he stepped back from public life as his health declined. Joke Silva disclosed that he was living with dementia with Lewy bodies.

False reports of his death circulated more than once. In June 2024 Joke Silva again said he was alive. The family had rejected earlier rumours as well.

Olu Jacobs linked Nigeria’s travelling-theatre tradition with modern film and television, and brought an international training to that work.

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He left Joke Silva, his children, colleagues, and several generations of actors who learned from his performances and from Lufodo.