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Mary Lazarus (born 5 May 1989) is a Nigerian actress and movie producer who won the '' City People Movie Award for Most Promising Actress of the Year (English)'' at the
City People Entertainment Awards City People Entertainment Awards are an annual accolade presented by '' City People Magazine'' to honour Nigerian and Ghanaian entertainers. The first edition was held in Abeokuta, Ogun State on June 14, 2009. The event was hosted by Governor ...
in 2018 and was nominated, for ''Best Actress in a leading role'' in the same year at the
Best of Nollywood Awards Best of Nollywood Awards (stylised as BON Awards) is an annual film event presented by ''Best of Nollywood Magazine,'' honouring outstanding achievement in the Nigerian Movie Industry. The first edition was held on 6 December 2009, in Ikeja, Lag ...
. She also won the award for Most Peaceful Actress of the Year.


Early life and education

Lazarus hails from Abia State in Nigeria, a southeastern geographical location of Nigeria predominantly occupied by the Igbo people of Nigeria. Lazarus is specifically from
Ukwa East Ukwa East is a Local Government Area located in Abia State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Akwete. Ukwa East is bordered by Akwa Ibom State and Rivers States. It has an area of 280 km and a population of 58,865 at the 2006 census. It ...
Local Government Area of Abia State and was born into a family of nine consisting of a mother, a father and six siblings of which she is a twin and one of the last born children of the family alongside her twin brother named Joseph. Lazarus upon receiving both primary and secondary education and obtaining her First ''School Leaving Certificate and the
West African Senior School Certificate The West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is a type of standardized test in West Africa. Students who pass the exam receive a certificate confirming their graduation from secondary education. It is administered by the West A ...
'' respectively applied to
University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...
in bid to obtain a university degree. She was accepted and granted admission to study Geography, in the institution where she eventually graduated with a 4.4 cumulative grade point average with a B.Sc. degree in Geography.


Career

Lazarus who is popularly known, for her roles in diverse
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 ...
movies debuted first as a model in 2002 before venturing into the Nigerian movie industry in 2009 with a movie titled ''“Waiting Years”'' She secured a role in the movie through the help of Gbenro Ajibade who introduced her to ''John Njamah'', the director of the movie who eventually assigned her a role in the aforementioned movie. Lazarus made her directorial debut with a movie titled ''“Dance To My Beat”'' of which she also produced in 2017. Lazarus as a model has made appearances in commercials by
Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Current ...
and MTN.


Influence

Lazarus, in an interview with the
Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...
print media named Nollywood veteran actresses
Omotola Jalade Ekeinde Omotola Jalade Ekeinde ( ; born Omotola Jalade, 7 February 1978) is a Nigerian actress, singer, philanthropist and former model. Since her Nollywood film debut in 1995, Ekeinde has appeared in over 300 films, selling millions of copies. Omoto ...
and
Joke Silva Joke Silva , MFR is a Nigerian actress, director, and businesswoman. In 1998 she had a major role, starring opposite Colin Firth and Nia Long in the British-Canadian film ''The Secret Laughter of Women''. In 2006, she won " Best Actress in ...
as her role models in the Nigerian movie industry. Lazarus in another interview with
The Punch ''The Punch'' is a Nigerian daily newspaper founded On August 8, 1970. Punch Nigeria Limited was registered under the Companies Act of 1968 to engage in the business of publishing newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. It was designed to i ...
print media named American actress
Kimberly Elise Kimberly Elise Trammel (born April 17, 1967) is an American film and television actress. She made her feature film debut in '' Set It Off'' (1996), and later received critical acclaim for her performance in ''Beloved'' (1998). During her career, ...
as one who she admires because of her extensive body of work.


Award and nomination


Personal life

Lazarus comes from a family of nine and is one of the last born children of her parents alongside her twin brother. In an interview with
The Punch ''The Punch'' is a Nigerian daily newspaper founded On August 8, 1970. Punch Nigeria Limited was registered under the Companies Act of 1968 to engage in the business of publishing newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. It was designed to i ...
print media she described herself as a fun-loving person.


Selected filmography and TV series

*''When Life Happens'' (2020) as Cindy , with Lota Chukwu, Jimmy Odukoya, Wole Ojo *''My Woman'' (2019) as Zara , with Seun Akinyele, Ujams C'briel *''Accidental Affair'' (2019) as Kristen *''Clustered Colours'' (2019) *''Broken Pieces'' (2018) *''Homely: What Men Want'' (2018) as Keji *''Dance To My Beat'' (2017) *''The Road Not Taken II'' (2017) *''Love Lost'' (2017) as Rena *''Girls Are Not Smiling'' (2016) *''What Makes You Tick'' (2016) as Ann Okojie *''Okafor's Law'' (2016) as Kamsi *''Better Than The Beginning'' (2015) *''Bad Drop'' (2015) *''Losing Control'' (2015) as Uche *''Second Chances'' (2014) as Justina *''Desperate Housegirls'' (2013) *''Waiting Years'' (2009)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarus, Mary Living people 1986 births 21st-century Nigerian actresses Igbo actresses University of Ibadan alumni Nigerian film actresses Actresses from Abia State Nigerian film producers