Olu Jacobs left flourishing UK career to build Nollywood – Tunde Kelani

Veteran filmmaker Tunde Kelani has paid tribute to late actor Olu Jacobs, recalling how he left a successful career in Britain to return to Nigeria and embrace the country’s developing film industry.

Kelani, who first met Jacobs in London in 1978, described the actor’s decision to return home as an act of “extraordinary courage and vision”.

The filmmaker shared the tribute on Thursday, a day after Jacobs’ family announced his death at the age of 84.

Kelani recalled that he met Jacobs while he and a group of Nigerian classmates at the London Film School were working on their graduation project, Trying Times, an adaptation of Amadu Maddy’s novel No Past, No Present, No Future.

According to him, Jacobs agreed to lead the student production without asking for a fee, requesting only that he be provided with a meal during the three day shoot.

He said Jacobs’ performance helped the film secure a place in the Governors’ Screening at the London Film School.

Kelani also recalled working with Jacobs and his wife, actress Joke Silva, on Twins of the Rainforest, describing their on screen chemistry as memorable.

He wrote, “It took extraordinary courage and vision for Uncle Olu to walk away from a flourishing career abroad. He had already established an enviable reputation across British stage, television, and international cinema—working on productions like Pirates under Roman Polanski—yet he chose to return home.”

“At a time when shooting on analogue video seemed absurd to conventional filmmakers, he embraced the nascent Nollywood movement. He weathered every infrastructural limitation, pouring his immense craft and discipline into laying the bedrock of an industry that would command global attention.”

Kelani said Jacobs also had a reputation for supporting people around him, recalling his “warm, reassuring smile” and “booming baritone voice”.

He described the late actor as “a founding patriarch of modern Nigerian screen performance” and thanked him for his contribution to his own career.

Jacobs died on September 16, 2026, aged 84. His son, Olusoji Jacobs, announced his death on behalf of the family, which described him as “The Lion of Lufodo” and asked bloggers and social media influencers to respect the family’s privacy.

Born on July 11, 1942, Jacobs trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London before building a career in British theatre and television. He appeared in productions including The Goodies, The Professionals and The Tomorrow People, as well as international films such as The Dogs of War, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend and Roman Polanski’s Pirates.

He later returned to Nigeria and became one of the most recognisable actors in Nollywood, appearing in more than 100 Nigerian films. He received several honours, including the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2007 and the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic in 2011.

Jacobs was married to Joke Silva, with whom he co founded the Lufodo Group and Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts.