James Olatokunbo Akingbola (born 7 April 1978) is an English television,

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

film actor 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 (), lite ...

Early life

Jimmy Akingbola was born in London to parents of the

Yoruba tribe 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 ...

who had emigrated from

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. In 1996, Akingbola started at the

Academy of Live and Recorded Arts The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actor Sorrel Carson w ...

(ALRA) in Wandsworth, London. He completed their three-year, full-time acting diploma.

Theatre

Akingbola started his career on stage at the

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre c ...

in ''The Nativity'' for Bill Alexander. He continued in a production of ''Baby Doll'' at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

. Next he appeared in "Naked Justice" by playwright

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for novels about a barrister named Horace Rumpole. Early life Mortimer was born in Hampstead, London, ...

at the

West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Having originally opened in 1970 in a different location in Leeds, it reopened as West Yorkshire Playhouse, on Quarry Hill, in March 1990. After a refurbishment in 2018-20 ...

, opposite

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. ...

. Akingbola played Elvis in the poignant play ''Behzti'' at the

Birmingham Rep Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre c ...

in December 2004. He worked with rapper and actor

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...

in the hit play ''

Prayer Room A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

''. Akingbola earned four-star reviews for his performance as Bunce. Akingbola acted in the production of Roxanne Silbert's play ''People Next Door,'' in which he gave a memorable performance alongside actor Fraser Ayres’ character as his best friend Marco. Akingbola won his first award (TMA Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor) for the role of Christopher in '' Blue/Orange'', first produced at the

Sheffield Crucible Theatre Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and ...

; the production then went on a national tour. He played opposite

Roger Lloyd-Pack Roger Anthony Lloyd-Pack (8 February 1944 – 16 January 2014) was an English actor. He is best known for playing Trigger in ''Only Fools and Horses'' from 1981 to 2003, and Owen Newitt in ''The Vicar of Dibley'' from 1994 to 2007. He later star ...

and

Shaun Evans Shaun Francis Evans (born 6 March 1980) is an English actor and director. He is best known for playing a young Endeavour Morse in the ITV drama series '' Endeavour''. Early life Shaun Francis Evans was born on 6 March 1980 into an Irish famil ...

Joe Penhall Joe Scott Penhall (born 1967) is an English-Australian playwright and screenwriter, best known for his award-winning stage play ''Blue/Orange'', the award-winning West End musical ''Sunny Afternoon'' and creating the Netflix original series '' ...

's award-winning play, which was directed by

Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...

. Akingbola later went on to star in '' The Cut'' at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...

opposite

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

, directed by

Michael Grandage Michael Grandage CBE (born 2 May 1962) is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently Artistic Director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and from 2000 to 2 ...

. Additional roles include Akingbola playing anti-hero Jimmy Porter in the

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play ''Look Back in Anger'' tra ...

play of ''Look Back in Anger'' at the

Jermyn Street Theatre Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated on Jermyn Street, in London's West End. It is an off-west end studio theatre. History Jermyn Street Theatre opened in August 1994. It was formerly the changing rooms for staff at a Spaghetti ...

in July 2008; he was the first black actor to play the role. The same year he played the title role of ''Othello'' for the company Frantic Assembly, which received a

TMA Award The UK Theatre Awards, established in 1991 and known before 2011 as the TMA Awards, are presented annually by UK Theatre (formerly the Theatrical Management Association) in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in regional theat ...

Television

Akingbola's television roles started with the black BBC sitcom "The Crouches" playing the witty character of Dennis Dutton. He has since played roles in ''Stupid'', ''The Bill'', ''The Royal'', ''The South Bank Show'', ''Roger Roger'', ''Holby City'', ''Doctors'', ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the ...

'', ''Comedy Lab'', and ''Longford''. Akingbola secured his first permanent major television role appearing in BBC's police drama series ''

HolbyBlue ''HolbyBlue'' (also known as ''Holby Blue'') was a British police procedural drama series. The show revolves around the daily lives of a number of police officers working at Holby South police station. The cast for series one included Jimmy Akin ...

'', starring alongside

Kacey Ainsworth Kacey Ainsworth (born 19 October 1968) is an English actress, best known for portraying the role of Little Mo in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Cathy Keating in ITV drama ''Grantchester''. Early life Ainsworth trained at the Royal Centr ...

and

Tim Pigott-Smith Timothy Peter Pigott-Smith, (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series '' The Jewel in the Crown'', for which he wo ...

, as PC Neil Parker alongside his on screen colleague PC Kelly Cooper, played by

Chloe Howman Chloe Howman (born 1978 in London, England) is an English actress. The daughter of actor Karl Howman, her sister is actress Katy-Jo Howman. Career The sisters' first appearance was in 1986 with their father, as children in his series ''Brush Str ...

. In 2009, he played Dean Collier in ''New Tricks'' ("Blood Is Thicker Than Water", S6:E7). Akingbola returned to show his comedy talent in 2010, starring in the BBC2 hit series '' Rev.'' where he played the popular character "Mick", alongside

Tom Hollander Thomas Anthony Hollander (; born 25 August 1967) is an English actor. As a child Hollander trained with the National Youth Theatre and was later involved in stage productions as a member of the Footlights and was president of the Marlowe Soci ...

and

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...

. For his role as Mick, Akingbola was nominated for "Best TV Comedy Performance" at the Black International Film Festival and Music Video & Screen Awards. Akingbola also played the roles of Malick in ''Holby City'' and PC Johnson in ''Silk'', both on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

in 2011. In 2014, Akingbola played blind geography teacher Dr Dalton in episode 2 of the second series of BBC One sitcom '' Big School''. In 2015, Akingbola plays Baron Reiter in ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

'' season 4. In March 2020, Akingbola played Koji, an asylum seeker, in the first series of the ITV sitcom '' Kate & Koji'' but wasn't available for the filming of series two so Okorie Chukwu took on the role. In the same year, he played Carter in ''

Most Dangerous Game ''Most Dangerous Game'' is an American action series created by Nick Santora, Josh Harmon, and Scott Elder that debuted on Quibi on April 6, 2020. It is inspired by the 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. On May 20, 2 ...

'' for Quibi. He will next reprise his role of Valentine in series 3 of '' In the Long Run'' with Idris Elba and will follow that with ''

Ted Lasso ''Ted Lasso'' is an American sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character of the same name that Sudeikis first portrayed in a series of promos for NB ...

'' for Apple TV+.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Audio/Radio

Akingbola is the voice in several popular computer games for electronics game brands including EA, Disney, PlayStation and Funcom. Games titles include; Dead Space 2, Pirates of the Caribbean, Gangs of London, Age of Conan, The Secret World, Dirt 2, James Bond: Golden Eye, Brink and Dirty Bomb. Akingbola works with BBC Radio as a regular voice over contributor to several shows including BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and 7.

Awards and nominations

Nominations

* Best Male TV Actor, Screen Nation (BBC's "Holby Blue")

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akingbola, Jimmy 1978 births 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts Black British male actors English adoptees English male film actors English male soap opera actors English male stage actors English people of Nigerian descent English people of Yoruba descent Living people People from Plaistow, Newham Yoruba male actors