Omotola Jalade Ekeinde (born Feb 7, 1978) is a Nigerian actress, singer, and philanthropist from Lagos. Since her Nollywood film debut in 1995, she has appeared in an astounding 300 films, selling millions of video copies. After receiving numerous high-profile awards, launching a music career, and amassing an enviable fan base, the press has revered the Screen Nation 'Best Actress' as Africa's biggest star.
Today, she is not only noted for her incomparable showbiz accomplishments but is also applauded for her remarkable humanitarian efforts. Over the years, Omotola has been a pioneer in the Nollywood film industry, successfully becoming the most watched actress in Africa.
Omotola Jalade Ekeinde biography
Omotola Jalade's age
Omotola comes from a family of five, including her parents and two brothers. She began to work as a model before launching her on-screen career and attending an unexpected audition. Omotola's breakout role came in the 1995 film, "Mortal Inheritance", in which she portrayed an ill woman combating the sickle-cell disease.
Her performance in Mortal Inheritance attained the actress a lot of awards, including, Best Actress in an English Speaking Film and Best Actress overall at the 1996/97 Thema Awards. Today this film is revered as one of Nigeria's best ever made.
In the late nineties and early 2000s, the progressively known actress starred in numerous sequel films including, Lost Kingdom 2, Kosorogun 2, and Blood Sister 2, resulting in a Grand Achiever Award courtesy of the Global Excellence Recognition Awards in 2004.
By the mid-2000s, Omotola had reached A-list status among other outstanding performers like Genevieve Nnaji, Stella Damasus, and Pete Edochie. Omotola was awarded 'Best Actress in a Supporting Role' during the African Movie Awards in 2005.
Itching to connect with her large fan base on a more personal level, OmoSexy, as her fans would often call her, launched a long-awaited music career in 2005 with the release of her debut album, titled, GBA. The album featured the singles, "Naija Lowa" and "The Things You Do To Me." Her sophomore album, "Me, Myself, and Eyes" produced by Paul Play and Del B, featured the songs, "Feel Alright" ft. Harry Song and "Through the Fire" ft. Uche.
Apart for being a wife, mother, and on-screen performing artist, Omotola has always had a passion for writing. She was even offered her own column in OK! Nigeria. The famous column, labeled Omotola's Diary, features written words directly from Omotola about her life, experiences, and her inimitable viewpoint. Her other works include personal poems and co-written scripts for a lot of the films in which she has starred.
Omotola, the philanthropist, powers her NGO project, the Omotola Youth Empowerment Project (OYEP). The enterprise brings youths together for the authorization Walk and Convention. One of the program's very famous projects includes the 20 Widows Makeover. The program received a nomination for Best Charity/Cause connected Event at the Nigerian Event Awards in 2012 and continued to work in remembrance of Omotola’s late mother.
Her activism and philanthropy continue with the Save The Children UK, Enough is Enough, and Amnesty International. She also worked on causes like the Maternal Mortality struggle in Sierra-Leone and the Own Up, Niger Delta Pay Up and Clean Up campaign. She's remained a UN ambassador for the WFP (World Food Programme) since 2005.
Omotola Jalade movies
Throughout the first 2010s, Omotola starred in a lot of high-grossing films, which got record-breaking success. The first was "Ije," (2010). It became the highest grossing film ever in the African cinemas. It was followed by "Last Flight to Abuja," earning Omotola another box office record for becoming the highest grossing film in an opening week. These accomplishments earned Omotola a brand new nickname, Cinema Box Office Queen.
In 2011, Omotola was invited to attend the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, CA in recognition of her work with Amnesty International and her song "Barren Land," which was in a public service announcement, addressing the Shell Oil spill within the Niger Delta.
2012 marked another career raise for Omotola. On October 27, she was awarded The Black Entertainment Film Fashion TV and Arts BEFFTA Icon Award, an exclusive honorary award for her outstanding contributions to the world film industry. Omotola acknowledged the recognition as a particularly special moment for her, stating, "this is the best award I have received on a worldwide level".
In late 2012, Omotola starred in her very own reality TV-show airing on Africa's most popular network, Africa Magic TV. The show, known as "Omotola: The Real Me," became the most viewed TV series in the continent as well as making Omotola the first Nigerian to ever have a reality television show.
In Feb 2013, Omotola’s popularity was still rising once it was proclaimed that she had passed the one million likes mark on Facebook, the world's most visited social network site. Shortly after, it was declared that Omotola was named one of TIME Magazine’s Most authoritative people in the World on the 2013 TIME 100.
Omotola Jalade husband and children
Omotola married pilot Captain Matthew Ekeinde in 1996. The couple later held a white ceremony on board a Dash 7 aircraft while flying from Lagos to the Republic of Benin in 2001, with close family and friends. Omotola gave birth to her first child on 30 March 1997. Together with her husband, they have four children, Princess, M.J, Meraiah and Michael. Omotola lost her father in 1991.
In 2015, Omotola celebrated her twentieth year in the show business. She has appeared in about 200 movies.
0 comments:
Post a Comment