Adunni Ade is an

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and model. She was born on the 7th of June in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

to a German American mother and a Nigerian father from

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

Early life and education

Adunni Ade was born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York to a German-Irish mother and a

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

father. She is a Nollywood actress and fashion model. She returned to Nigeria when she was a year and half old with her parents to attend her grandfather's burial. She was brought up in

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 states, it is both the most populous and smallest in area. Bounded to the south by the Bight of Benin and to the west by the international border with Ben ...

, Nigeria till she was in her late teens and moved back to the United States for her university education. She attended the Chrisland primary school, Opebi,

, where she obtained her First School Leaving Certificate. She obtained her Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) at the

Bells Comprehensive Secondary School The Bells Comprehensive Secondary School for Boys and Girls is a secondary school located in Ota, Nigeria, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. The school educates about 500-1000 students.Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to th ...

. Her Lagos-based father, who is also a successful businessman inspired her to study accounting. Adunni Ade studied accounting at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

. Prior to her return to Nigeria, Adunni Ade worked with the State of Kentucky in the Housing sector providing living assistance, and also the State of Maryland in the Medical Insurance department providing medical insurance (Medicare and Medicaid) to those in need.

Career

Adunni Ade worked in the housing and insurance sectors in the United States before switching to the entertainment industry. Adunni ventured into fashion modeling and was featured in

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

. After moving back to Nigeria, she landed her first

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

role when she acted in the

Yoruba language Yoruba (, ; Yor. '; Ajami: ) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in Southwestern and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speakers is roughly 50 million, plus about 2 million second-languag ...

film "You or I" in 2013. Her short video comedy skit "Date Gone Bad", which was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

in 2014, recorded more than 170,000 hits. She has also featured in several other Nollywood movies in both English and Yoruba languages, including some music videos for

Sound Sultan Sound Sultan (born Olanrewaju Abdul-Ganiu Fasasi; November 27, 1976 – July 11, 2021) was a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, comedian, and recording artist. He was regarded as one of the pacesetters of modern hip hop music in Niger ...

and

Ice Prince Panshak Henry Zamani (born 30 October 1984) better known as Ice Prince Zamani or just Ice Prince, is a Nigerian rapper, hip hop recording artist and actor. He rose to fame after releasing " Oleku", one of Nigeria's most remixed songs of all t ...

. In 2021 Adunni Ade ventured into Film production with her Film production company Lou-Ellen Clara Company Limited and debuted her first film as an executive producer SOÓLÈ featuring top actors in the country such as Sola Sobowale, Femi Jacobs, Meg Otanwa, Shawn Faqua, Lateef Dimeji. The movie was Directed by Kayode Kasum. Soólè hit the cinemas November 26, 2021 and grossed 10.2million naira in its opening weekend and 16 million naira in its opening week. After 9 weeks in the cinemas, soólè hit 51 million naira in the box office making it top 10 Nollywood movies in cinemas for 2021. She also received her first Yoruba Award for Best Yoruba Actress for the 5th Edition of Cool Wealth awards. She received a Stella Award from the

Nigerian Institute of Journalism The Nigerian Institute of Journalism is a Nigerian monotechnic located at 8-14, Ijaiye road, Ogba in Ikeja, the capital of Lagos State, southwestern Nigeria. The institute is a diploma awarding monotechnic established in 1963 by the International ...

for her efforts in promoting the Nigerian culture. In 2017, Adunni Ade became the brand ambassador for OUD Majestic. In 2018, she wrote and produced her first Yoruba movie titled: "Emi Mi – My Soul", directed by

Saheed Balogun Saheed Balogun (''(sometimes spelled as "Saidi")'' ; born 5 February 1967) is a veteran Nigerian actor, film-maker, director, and producer. Early life and career Saheed Balogun was born on 5 February 1967, in Enugu State, South-East Nigeria ...

. The movie starred Ibrahim Chatta, D'Marion Young, Sunkanmi Omobolanle, and Sola Kosoko . Later that year, she produced another Yoruba drama movie titled: "Ewa – Beauty", directed by Saheed Balogun and featured Ibrahim Chatta, Yinka Quadri, Kunle Omisore, and Tayo Sobola. She has been featured in well over 100 movies in Nigeria (both in the English and Yoruba aspect of Nollywood).

Personal life

Ade is a single mother of two boys Ayden Young and D’marion Young.

Selected filmography

Film

* Soole 2021 - Executive Producer * The Vendor 2018 * Ole Ole 2019 * Ratnik 2020 * Mama Drama 2020 * The New Normal 2020 *''Iwo tabi emi'' (''You or I'') (2013) *''What's Within'' (2014) *''2nd Honeymoon'' (2014) *''Head Gone'' (2015) *''So in Love'' (2015) *''Schemers'' (2016) *''Diary of a Lagos Girl'' (2016) *''For The Wrong Reasons'' (2016) *'' It's Her Day'' (2016) Earned her the nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Africa's biggest Movie Awards, AMVCA in 2017. She also won Best Supporting Actress Award at the Lagos Film Festival for the movie. *''The Blogger's Wife'' (2017) *''Guy n Man'' (2017) *'' Boss of All Bosses'' (2018) *''

The Vendor The Vendor is a 2018 Nigerian nollywood comedy written, produced and directed by Odunlade Adekola, winner of the '' 2018 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards'' Best Actor in a Comedy. The official trailer for the movie was released in August 2018 w ...

'' (2018) * ''Falz Experience'' (2018) * ''Guyman'' (2018) * ''Heaven on my mind'' (2018) *''House Of Contention'' (2019) *''Coincidence'' (2020) * ''Ratnik'' (2020) * '' Mama Drama'' (2020) * ''The New Normal'' (2020) *

The Silent Baron ''The Silent Baron'' is a 2021 Nigerian action drama film produced and directed by Ifeanyi Ukaeru and Richard Omos Iboyi in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency under the production company of Ekwe Nche Entertainment Limi ...

Television

*''Behind the Cloud'' *''Babatunde Diaries'' *''

Jenifa's Diary ''Jenifa's Diary'' is a Nigerian television comedy series, created by Funke Akindele. The series is part of the Jenifa franchise, based on a naive and funny character of the same name. ''Jenifa's Diary'' has 28 seasons and is currently active a ...

'' Season 2 *''Sons of the caliphate'' Season 2

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ade, Adunni Nigerian film actresses Living people People from Queens, New York American people of Nigerian descent American people of Yoruba descent American emigrants to Nigeria Actresses in Yoruba cinema 21st-century Nigerian actresses Nigerian television actresses Yoruba actresses Nigerian people of German descent American people of German descent University of Kentucky alumni 1976 births Actresses from Lagos America's Next Top Model contestants Yoruba female models Models from New York City Nigerian female models Nigerian film award winners Nigerian media personalities