Nigeria is not all about rapes, conflicts,suicide
bombings,corruptions,bad leadership etc. There are so many Nigerians running
into millions doing great things across the globe and contributing to human
development and world peace.
Starting
today and once every week CKN Nigeria have created a new column titled..Nigerian
Success Story In The Diaspora. This column will highlight the achievements of
Nigerians in the diaspora who are making waves outside our shores.If you are a
Nigerian and believe you have done so much to be celebrated, kindly send us
your profile to cknnigeria@gmail.com
or bb 2A7FF514.
Our
first personality today is one of Nollywood’s best actors David Oyelowo.
Background
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Born
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Spouse(s)
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Jessica Oyelowo (1998 - present)
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Children
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4
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Oyelowo
was born in Oxford, England, to Nigerian parents.He
is married to actress Jessica Oyelowo.
Oyelowo first attended a youth theatre
after being invited by a girl to whom he was attracted.He then studied theatre studies for A
level and his teacher
suggested he should become an actor.
After A levels Oyelowo enrolled for a year
on an art foundation course before being funded through training
at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) by Nicholas Hytner. Having
been offered television work Oyelowo left LAMDA before completing the course.
Stage
He began his stage career in 1999 when
he was offered a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company playing roles in Ben Jonson's Volpone, as the title character in Oroonoko (which
he also performed in the BBC radio adaptation) and Shakespeare's Antony
and Cleopatra (1999)
alongside Guy Henry, Frances
de la Tour and Alan Bates. His next
theatrical role is his best known one – his performance as King
Henry VI in the Royal
Shakespeare Company's 2001 productions of Shakespeare's trilogy
of plays about the king as a part of its season This
England: The Histories.
In a major landmark for colour-blind
casting, Oyelowo was the first black actor to play an English king
in a major production of Shakespeare, and although this casting choice was
initially criticised by some in the media, Oyelowo's performance was critically
acclaimed and later won the 2001 Ian
Charleson Award for
best performance by an actor under 30 in a classical play. (A few years later,
in comparison, Adrian Lester's casting
as Henry V drew little comment.) Oyelowo said of
this experience:
"It's fascinating to work with a company of actors of such
different ages, experience and talents. I'm one of a generation brought up on
television whose acting is more 'naturalistic', whereas with some of the older
generation it's more heightened. But I think there's room for both styles."
In 2005, he appeared in a production of Prometheus Bound,
which was revived in New York in 2007. In 2006, he made his directorial debut
on a production of The White Devil,
produced by his own theatre company in Brighton, Inservice, co-run with fellow
Brighton- based actors Priyanga Burford, Israel Aduramo, Penelope Cobbuld, and
his wife, Jessica.
Television
Oyelowo is best known for playing MI5
officer Danny Hunter in the British TV drama series Spooks (known
in North America as MI-5) from 2002 to 2004. He had before
that appeared in Tomorrow La Scala (2002), Maisie Raine (1998) and Brothers and Sisters (1998). Soon after the end of his time
on Spooks Oyelowo made a cameo appearance in the
2005 Christmas special of As
Time Goes By. In 2006 he appeared in the TV film Born Equal alongside Nikki Amuka-Bird as a couple fleeing persecution in Nigeria –
they also both appeared in Shoot
the Messenger (2006),
and inThe No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (2008) as a husband and wife. Other
cameos have included Mayo (guest starring on 30 April 2006) and
the TV film Sweet
Nothing in My Ear (2008,
as defense attorney Leonard Grisham), whilst he has played
recurring or main characters in Five Days (2007) and The
Passion (2008, as Joseph
of Arimathea).
In December 2009 he played the leading
role of Gilbert in the BBC TV adaptation of Andrea Levy's novel Small Island. In March 2010 he played the
part of Keme Tobodo in the BBC's drama seriesBlood and Oil
Radio
He appeared as Olaudah Equiano in Grace
Unshackled – The Olaudah Equiano Story, a radio play adapting Equiano's autobiography. This was
first broadcast on BBC 7 on
Easter Sunday 8 April 2007, with Jessica as Mrs Equiano.[5]
Audiobook
In 2007, Oyelowo was the reader for John le Carré's The Mission Song.
Audiofile Magazine stated: "Think of
David Oyelowo as a single musician playing all the instruments in a symphony.
That is essentially what he manages in this inspired performance of John le
Carré's suspense novel... Can it really have been only one man in the
narrator's recording booth? This virtuoso performance makes that seem
impossible."[6]
Filmography
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Film
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Year
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Title
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Role
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Notes
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2001
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CJ
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2005
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Payne
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2005
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Graham
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2005
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Patrol
Officer
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2006
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Orlando
De Boys
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2006
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Dr.
Junju
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2008
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2008
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Joseph
Asagai
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2009
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Homer
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2011
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Steven
Jacobs
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2011
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Preacher
Green
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2011
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Selma
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Martin
Luther King Jr
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2011
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Duane
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2012
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Lt.
Joe "Lightning" Little
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2012
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Yardley
Acheman
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2012
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Nomination
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
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2012
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Ira
Clark
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2012
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Emerson
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Tags
Entertainment