Veteran Nigerian actor and film executive Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, globally known as Olu Jacobs, has died at age 84. His family confirmed he passed in the early hours of Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
His son, Olusoji Jacobs, announced the news in a joint statement with his mother, actress Joke Silva, on Instagram:
“It is with gratitude to God for a life well lived and fought, that we announce the passing of our dear husband, father, grandfather and uncle. The Lion of Lufodo. Oludotun Baiyewunmi Jacobs (MFR) 11/07/1942 – 16/09/2026”
The family has asked bloggers and social media influencers to respect their privacy at this time.
Why This Matters to the Caribbean
For many in the Caribbean and UK diaspora, Olu Jacobs wasn’t just a Nollywood icon – he was one of us.
Long before Nollywood had a name, Jacobs was a young African man navigating 1970s London. Trained at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he shared stages and TV screens with the Windrush generation of Black British and Caribbean actors who were fighting for representation.
You saw him in British classics like The Goodies, Till Death Us Do Part, Barlow at Large, The Professionals, The Tomorrow People, and on stage with the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. He appeared in international films like The Dogs of War (1980) and Roman Polanski’s Pirates (1986).
He proved that a Black African actor trained in London could command both worlds – and he opened the door for the Black British and Caribbean talent that followed.
He returned to Nigeria in the 1990s and became a founding father of Nollywood, starring in over 200 films including Vigilante, Blood Diamond, and Dry. In 2007 he won Best Actor at the Africa Movie Academy Awards, and in 2011 was conferred with Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR).
Together with his wife of 37 years, Joke Silva, he built more than films. Through the Lufodo Group and Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, they mentored thousands across Africa and the diaspora.
He had withdrawn from public life in recent years while living with Lewy body dementia – a condition his family had previously had to defend against false death rumours as recently as 2024.
From Abeokuta to Brixton, from Lagos to Kingston, his deep baritone voice that played kings, chiefs and generals was the voice of authority for a whole generation of Afro-Caribbean households who grew up on NTA and Nollywood DVDs.
The Lion of Lufodo has taken his final bow. His legacy lives on in every Black actor who believes our stories belong on the world stage.
Rest in Power.
