Meet The Nigerian-Born British Actor David Oyelowo

David Oyelowo is a classically trained stage actor also known for screen projects like Spooks, As You Like It, Red Tails, Lincoln and The Butler.

Synopsis

Born in Oxford, England, on April 1, 1976, David Oyelowo honed his passion for acting into award-winning stage work, as seen with dramas like Henry VIand Prometheus Bound. His TV projects have included Spooks, As You Like It, Small Island andThe No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and he has starred in big-screen ventures like The Paperboy, Middle of Nowhere, Lincoln,The Butler and Interstellar.

Background and Education

David Oyelowo was born in Oxford, England, on April 1, 1976, to Nigerian parents, living in the United Kingdom until he was 6 years old and then relocating to Nigeria—where he discovered his family was of royal lineage—for seven years. Oyewolo returned to the country of his birth and lived in London, though he was bullied at school by other youth for his courteous manner.

Oyelowo developed a passion for acting, eventually attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, graduating in 1998. During his time as a teen with the National Youth Music Theatre, he met his future wife, Jessica Watson.

Shakespeare and Film Debuts

After completing his studies, Oyelowo took to more stage work, being featured in The Suppliants. In 2001, his award-winning lead role in Henry VIwas the first time a king was portrayed by a black actor in a Royal Shakespeare Company production. He later acted in The God Botherers andPrometheus Bound.

Oyelowo turned to television as well, starring for a time in the British spy series Spooks, billed as MI-5 during its run in American on A&E. He then launched his international film career with parts in the sci-fi adventure A Sound of Thunder (2005) and the Idi Amin biopic The Last King of Scotland (2006), which starred Forest Whitaker, Kerry Washington and James McAvoy. Oyelowo also co-wrote the BBC movie Graham and Alice (2006) and continued to shine with Shakespeare, portraying Orlando de Boys in Kennath Branagh's HBO production of As You Like It (2007).

Rich Array of Screen Work

Oyelowo took on a rich assortment of big and small screen projects over the years, showing his versatility and commitment as a thespian. He played a passionate academic in the 2008 U.S. TV production of A Raisin in the Sunand had a lead role with Noamie Harris in the 2009 British TV adaptation of the novel Small Island. He shined in his role as a demanding, rigid executive in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), and later portrayed a Tuskegee pilot in Red Tails (2012), with the latter executive produced by George Lucas.

Other projects on the actor's plate have included The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (2009), The Help (2011), Jack Reacher (2012) and the award-winning Lincoln (2012).

Portraying Dr. King

The following year, Oyelowo was prominently featured in The Butler (2013), depicting the activist son of characters Cecil and Gloria Gaines, portrayed by Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. Oyelowo was reunited with director Lee Daniels for the film, with the two having worked together previously on 2012'sPaperboy.

Oyewolo had also co-starred in the 2012 independent drama Middle of Nowhere, directed by Ava DuVernay. He and DuVernay worked together again for her next film, the riveting drama Selma (2014), in which Oyelowo portrays Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The actor has earned a Golden Globe nomination for the role.

In 2015, Oyewolo received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of a psychologically troubled war veteran in the HBO film "Nightingale."

 Courtesy: Biography.com

Meet The Nigeria-born American Hollywood Actress That Recently won an Emmy Award ''Uzo Aduba''.....

Uzo Aduba is an Emmy-winning Nigeria-born American actress known for playing Crazy Eyes on the Netflix series 'Orange Is the New Black.'

Synopsis

Uzo Aduba was born in February 1981 in Boston and went on to attend Boston University on an athletics scholarship. While there, the voice major fell in love with acting and moved to New York City after graduation to pursue a career on the stage. After appearing in Off-Broadway productions, Aduba made her Broadway debut in 2007. But it would be TV that put her on the map when she landed the role of "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the popular Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, a role that would bring fame and acclaim to Aduba's doorstep along with two Emmy Awards.

Early Years

Uzo Aduba was born on February 10, 1981, in Boston and raised in Medfield, Massachusetts. Growing up, the name she was given (in full, Uzoamaka) in the Nigerian Igbo tradition caused her some grief, when kids at school couldn’t pronounce it. When Aduba asked her mother if she could change it to Zoe, her reply was poignant: “If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky andMichelangelo and Dostoyevsky, they can learn to say Uzoamaka.”

After graduating from Medfield High School, Aduba rode a track and field scholarship to the College of Fine Arts at Boston University, where she began classical voice training to refine her “very dramatic soprano,” as she calls it. At BU, she cultivated a love of the stage, and her acting teachers encouraged her to pursue acting instead or a vocal career. That encouragement, paired with a growing interest in the stage, was enough to make her switch gears and move from Massachusetts to New York City, where she pursued an acting career.

New York Stage

Aduba moved to New York in the early 2000s. She took on unpaid roles while waiting tables to get a foot in the door. Before long, though, she found her way to the New York stage, performing at the Theater for the New City and with the Huntington Theatre Company and the American Repertory Theater. With the latter, she won an Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Musical Performance, and for her work in a Kennedy Center production ofTranslations of Xhosa, Aduba was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award.

During this period she segued into film roles, appearing in shorts such asNotes (2005) and Over There (2007). Also in 2007, Aduba made the leap to Broadway in Coram Boy, following up with a role in the hit 2011-2012 revival of Godspell.

Orange Is the New Black

Aduba was on the cusp of the next stage of advancing in her career, and she past the tipping point when she made her TV debut in 2012 on the CBS drama Blue Bloods. It was a small role, but what was waiting on the other side of it wasn’t: a key part on the new Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black. Set in a woman’s prison, Orange Is the New Black let Aduba try out a whole new set of acting skills as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren, a character who has become something of a cultural phenomenon.

For her work as Crazy Eyes, Aduba has garnered millions of fans, critical acclaim and industry honors such as a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series and a 2014 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy. She won another Emmy the following year, this time for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, making her and Ed Asner the only actors in history to win an Emmy in both the comedy and drama genres for the same role.

As Tuface turns 40 Today..... This is a brief on the African Legend....

Tuface is one of the most popular Afrikan stars in the music industry. His real name is Innocent Ujah Idibia. Born in Nigeria, Tuface became famous not only as a singer, but as a songwriter and producer as well.

Early life

Innocent Idibia is from the Idoma ethnic group in Benue State, Nigeria. 2face went to Saint Gabriel Secondary School in Makurdi the Benue State capital. He Tuface later enrolled at theInstitute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, where he obtained his prelim National Diploma course in the department of business administration and management. Tuface started performing at college shows and parties; he was always at other regional schools and university like University of Nigeria and Enugu State University of Science and Technology.

Tuface famously dropped out of school to pursue a career in music. While in school 2face composed a couple of jingles for the Enugu State Broadcasting Services (ESBS) back in 1996. It was in 1996 when Innocent Idibia adopted the stage name “2Face” his reasoning being that he was “trying to separate his personal life and his business life.

Plantashun Boyz

Innocent Ujah Idibia  left Enugu for Lagos where he he met with rapper BlackFace now Black Face Naija. Tu face had met with BlackFace in IMT, so With Ahmedu Augustine Obiabo Aka Blackface and also with his another friend Chibuzor Oji now known as Faze went on to form the all famous band “The Plantashun Boyz”.

Plantashun Boyz went on to released a debut album and a follow up, while both were successful albums, their first was “Body and Soul” which was released in 2000 and then “Sold Out” in 2003 before going their separate ways in 2004. There disbanding was marred with a prolonged beef between “Faze vs Tuface” due to the nature of their break up. Everything was finally put to bed when the band had a comeback album when they came together in 2007 to record their third and final album titled “Plan B”.

Solo career

Tu face’s solo officially kicked off after the disbandment of the group in 2004, as all the three members went after their musical careers. Mr. Idibia’s debut solo album was released in 2004 titled “Face 2 Face” under the record platform of Kennis Music.

“Grass 2 Grace” released in 2006 was his second album, with hits such as “One Love”, “True Love, ” and 4 Instance”, “Grass 2 Grace” was his  last album with Kennis Music, He then found his own label “Hypertek Entertainment”.

“African Queen” his first album hit song was used as a soundtrack for “Phat Girlz”’. 2face under his “Hypertek Entertainment” he released “The Unstoppable” with single like “Enter the Place”. In 2010, he released the “international edition” of “The Unstoppable” making him first from Nigerian to have an appropriately priced international album to his credit.

2face in collaboration with R. Kelly and Prince Lee titled recorded “Hands Across the World” which is also part of Sony All African One8 Project alongside.

Tu face became the first non Liberian to be honoured with membership into the Liberian music society. It didn’t stop there as he was named the Red Cross ambassador society of Nigeria

Albums Till date

Tu Face’s Album till date includes “Face 2 Face” in 2004, “Grass 2 Grace” in 2006, “The Unstoppable” in 2008, “The Unstoppable International Edition” in 2010 and “The Ascension” in 2014.

Awards Won till date

Tu Face has amazingly won over forty awards and seven nominations both locally and internationally, these includes amongst others -

1.    Outstanding Contribution to the Entertainment Industry 2004 Award for Excellence

2.    Best Male Vocalist 2004 A.M.E.N Awards

3.    Best Hip Hop and R&B Artiste 2004 Nigeria Entertainment Awards New York

4.    Musician of the Year 2004 City People Awards for Excellence

5.    Best Male Video 2005 Channel O Music Video Awards

6.    Best African Act 2005 Channel O Music Video Awards

7.    Best African Act 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards

8.    Best African Act 2005 Kora Awards

9.    Best Musical Artiste 2005 Afro Nollywood Awards

10.    African Song of the Year (Non Ghanaian) 2005 Ghana Music Awards

11.    Special Recognition Award 2005 Hip Hop World Awards

12.    The Outstanding Musician of the Year 2005 Black Heritage Awards for Excellence

13.    Best Song of the Year 2005 G.C.E International Awards

14.    Africa Break Through Artist of the Year 2006 Nigeria Entertainment Awards New York

15.    Best Album of the Year 2007 Nigeria Entertainment Awards New York

16.    Best R’n’B / Pop album 2008 Hip-Hop World Awards

17.    Best African Act 2008 Australian African Awards

18.    Best selling Nigerian Artist 2008 World Music Awards, Monaco, Spain

19.    Best R&B MTV Africa Music Awards 2009[31]

20.    Artist of the Year MTV Africa Music Awards 2010

21.    Best Male MTV Africa Music Awards 2010

22.    Most Gifted West African Video 2010 Channel O Music Video Awards [32]

23.    Best International Act: Africa BET Awards of 2011[34]

24.    Artist of the Year 2011 Hip-Hop World Awards – “The Headies” ETC...

All You Need To Know About Fela ''Anikulapo'' Kuti (AKA Abami Eda)

Musician and activist Fela Kuti pioneered Afrobeat music and was repeatedly arrested and beaten for writing lyrics that questioned the Nigerian government.

Synopsis

Fela Kuti was born on October 15, 1938, in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Beginning in the 1960s, Kuti pioneered his own unique style of music called "Afrobeat." Rebelling against oppressive regimes through his music came at a heavy cost. Kuti was arrested 200 times and endured numerous beatings, but continued to write political lyrics, producing 50 albums before he died on August 2, 1997, in Lagos, Nigeria.

Early Years

Musician and political activist Fela Kuti was born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti on October 15, 1938, in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Kuti was the son of a Protestant minister, Reverend Ransome-Kuti. His mother, Funmilayo, was a political activist.

As a child, Kuti learned piano and drums, and led his school choir. In the 1950s, Kuti told his parents that he was moving to London, England, to study medicine, but wound up attending the Trinity College of Music instead. While at Trinity, Kuti studied classical music and developed an awareness of American jazz.

Activism Through Music

In 1963, Kuti formed a band called Koola Lobitos. He would later change the band's name to Afrika 70, and again to Egypt 80. Beginning in the 1960s, Kuti pioneered and popularized his own unique style of music called "Afrobeat." Afrobeat is a combination of funk, jazz, salsa, Calypso and traditional Nigerian Yoruba music. In addition to their distinctive mixed-genre style, Kuti's songs were considered unique in comparison to more commercially popular songs due to their length—ranging anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour long. Kuti sang in a combination of Pidgin English and Yoruba.

In the 1970s and '80s, Kuti's rebellious song lyrics established him as political dissident. As a result, Afrobeat has come to be associated with making political, social and cultural statements about greed and corruption. One of Kuti's songs, "Zombie," questions Nigerian soldiers' blind obedience to carrying out orders. Another, "V.I.P. (Vagabonds in Power)," seeks to empower the disenfranchised masses to rise up against the government.

In 1989, three years after touring the United States, Kuti released an album called Beasts of No Nation. The album cover portrays world leaders Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan (among others) as cartoon vampires baring bloody fangs.

Rebelling against oppressive regimes through his music came at a heavy cost to Kuti, who was arrested by the Nigerian government 200 times, and was subject to numerous beatings that left him with lifelong scars. Rather than abandon his cause, however, Kuti used these experiences as inspiration to write more lyrics. He produced roughly 50 albums over the course of his musical career, including songs for Les Negresses under the pseudonym Sodi in 1992.

Personal Life

Fela Kuti was a polygamist. A woman named Remi was the first of Kuti's wives. In 1978, Kuti married 27 more women in a single wedding ceremony. He would eventually divorce them all. Kuti's children with Remi included a son, Femi, and daughters Yeni and Sola. Sola died of cancer not long after her father's death in 1997. All three offspring were members of the Positive Force, a band they founded in the 1980s.

Death

Fela Kuti died of AIDS-related complications on August 2, 1997, at the age of 58, in Lagos, Nigeria. Roughly 1 million people attended his funeral procession, which began at Tafawa Balewa Square and ended at Kuti's home, Kalakuta, in Ikeja, Nigeria, where he was laid to rest in the front yard

Meet The Man Called Dwayne ''The Rock'' Johnson..... One of my all time favorite wrestler and movie star.

Dwayne Johnson started out as "The Rock," a popular figure in professional wrestling and then became an actor known for such films as 2001's The Mummy Returns.

Synopsis

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was born into a professional wrestling family in 1972. An injury ended his college football career, so he entered the ring with the Word Wrestling Federation. As "The Rock," he famously feuded with wrestler Steve Austin and won the WWF Heavyweight title six times. Johnson then parlayed his wrestling fame into a film career, appearing in projects like 2001's The Mummy Returns and 2010's Tooth Fairy. His recent projects include Furious Seven (2015) and San Andreas (2015).

Early Life

Professional wrestler and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Douglas Johnson was born on May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California. The grandson of professional wrestler Peter "High Chief" Fanene Maivia and son of wrestler Rocky Johnson, the young Johnson grew up watching his father perform in the ring. But with no plans to follow in his footsteps, Johnson played college football at the University of Miami where he had great success until a back injury cost him a spot in the NFL.

The Rock

With few prospects in professional football, Johnson turned to wrestling, debuting in the WWF against the Brooklyn Brawler in Texas. After a couple more matches, including a tag team win with Bart Sawyer, the WWF signed him under the name Flex Kavana. A year later, he joined The Nation of Domination, eventually taking over its leadership and calling himself The Rock.

He later joined another band of elite wrestlers known as The Corporation and began a notorious feud with Steve Austin. Also known as "The People's Champ," The Rock has won the WWF Heavyweight title six times and the WWF Tag Team championships five times.

Acting Career

Outside the ring, The Rock has launched a successful acting career, dropping the stage name and simply going by Dwayne Johnson. He first made a big splash as the Scorpion King, a supernatural bad guy, in 2001's The Mummy Returns. Johnson returned to this role the following year for The Scorpion King. Trying his hand at comedy, he appeared in 2005's Be Cool with John Travolta and Uma Thurman and 2007's The Game Plan.

Johnson's acting career continues to thrive through his appearances in such films as Driver (2010) and Fast & Furious 6 (2013). In 2014, he starred as the most famous strong men of all time in Hercules. Johnson also returns to wrestling from time to time, including a 2014 appearance with Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 30.

In 2015, Johnson dominated the big screen with two big action films. He appeared in Furious Seven and starred in San Andreas. Johnson also debuted his first dramatic comedy series that same year. He plays Spencer Strasmore, a retired pro footballer turned financial planner, on Ballers. 

Johnson has a daughter, Simone Alexandra, from his first marriage. He and his high school sweetheart, Danny Garcia, wed in 1997 and split up a decade later. Johnson lives in Miami Florida.

Do you know that the man that played ''Agent Smith'' in the Movie Matrix was born in Ibadan, Nigeria

Biography of Hugo Wallace Weaving aka (Agent Smith)

Hugo Weaving is best known for playing Agent Smith in the Matrix film trilogy and Elrond in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

Synopsis

Hugo Wallace Weaving was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, on April 4, 1960. He played Agent Smith in the Matrix film trilogy and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Often cast as a villain, Weaving has had starring roles in Transformers (2007), Captain America (2011) and Cloud Atlas (2012).

Early Years

Hugo Wallace Weaving was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, on April 4, 1960. His mother, Anne, taught and led tours, while his father, Wallace, worked as a seismologist. During his childhood, his family lived in England, Australia and South Africa, but eventually settled in England, where Weaving attended boarding school in Bristol. When he was 16, his family moved back to Sydney and enrolled Weaving at Knox Grammar School. Five years later, he graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Almost fresh out of school, Hugo Weaving gained attention with his performance in The City's Edge (1983), a low-budget film said to be the first to realistically portray the living conditions of aborigines. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, he appeared in a number of Australian productions, including the 1989 film Bangkok Hilton, in which he appeared opposite Nicole Kidman. Two years later, he won the Best Actor award from the Australian Film Institute for his performance in Proof, a black comedy about a blind photographer, which also featured his countryman Russell Crowe.

Professional Success

Not one to be pigeonholed, Weaving appeared in drag in the 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and lent his signature baritone voice as the narrator in Babe (1995). One of his most widely known roles came as Agent Smith in the 1999 sci-fi blockbuster The Matrix. Later, audiences worldwide would find his lean frame and arched eyebrows a natural fit in his role as the half-elf Elrond in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Ringsfilm trilogy.

In 2005, Weaving won the lead role in V for Vendetta, wearing a mask for the entire performance. His work as the main villain in Transformers (2007) and Captain America (2011) seemed to cement his place in Hollywood, but the Australian has always had an aversion to high-profile stardom. "You stop being able to create another human being," he once said. "So I rather like playing the roles of masked characters. It allows me to maintain a certain private life."

Although 2012 saw Weaving in Cloud Atlas and The Hobbit, he has indicated that he will appear in fewer Hollywood movies, and instead focus on theater and smaller, independent films along the lines of the 2010 low-budget drama Oranges and Sunshine, in which he starred.

Personal Life

Hugo Weaving lives in Sydney, Australia, with Katrina Greenwood and their two children, Harry and Holly. He owns a dairy farm three hours north of the city, which he purchased with proceeds from The Matrix. He was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 13 and has consequently never gotten a driver's license.