Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

Wale Ogunyemi, OFR (12 August 1939–December 2001) was a Nigerian veteran seasoned dramatist, film actor, prolific playwright , and

Yoruba language Yoruba (, ; Yor. '; Ajami script, Ajami: ) is a language spoken in West Africa, primarily in South West (Nigeria), Southwestern Middle Belt, and Central Nigeria. It is spoken by the Ethnic group, ethnic Yoruba people. The number of Yoruba speake ...

scholar

Early life

Ogunyemi was born on 12 August 1939 at

Igbajo Igbajo is a town in the southwest of Nigeria, in the Boluwaduro Local Government Area in Osun State. Igbajo was founded in the 12th century. It neighbors the cities of Iresi, Ìlá Òràngún, Okemesi, Ada, Ire, Otan-Aiyegbaju, Otan-Ile, Imesi- ...

, a city in

Osun State Osun State (; yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Ọ̀ṣun), occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Ogun S ...

, southwestern

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 ...

to Samuel Adeosun and Mary Ogunyemi . He attended the

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 196 ...

in 1967 for a year course in drama, the same year he was appointed as a research assistant at Ibadan Institute of African Studies where he later retired.

Career

Ogunyemi began his acting career as a seasonal actor with the new western Nigerian television service in the early 1960s. He later worked with professor

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

, a Nobel Laureate and became a foundation member of ''Soyinka Orisun Theatre''. His credible performance made him a choice for the role he played as "The bale" in ''

The Lion and the Jewel ''The Lion and the Jewel'' is a play by Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka that was first performed in 1959 in Ibadan. In 1966, it was staged in London at the Royal Court Theatre. The play chronicles how Baroka, the lion, fights with the modern Lakunle ...

'' and ''Dende'' in

Kongi's Harvest ''Kongi's Harvest'' is a 1965 play written by Wole Soyinka. It premiered in Dakar, Senegal, at the first Negro Arts Festival in April 1966.Berry, Poyd M. (1980). Kongi's Harvest (a review). Gibbs, James (ed.). In ''Critical Perspectives on Wole ...

by professor Wole Soyinka. He also featured in ''The Beatification Of Area Boy'', a play by Wole Soyinka premiered 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 ...

in 1995. He had written and co-scripted several drama before his death in December 2001.

Filmography

*''

'' *''

'' *'' Sango'' (1997) *''The Beatification Of Area Boy'' *''The Ijaye War'' (1970) *''Kiriji'' (1976) *''The Divorce'' (1975) *''Aare Akogun'' (1968) and Everyman *''Eniyan'', published in 1987) *''Langbodo'' (1979)

Awards

*Member of the

Order of the Niger Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The republic instituted two orders of merit: the Order of the Niger and the Order of the Federal Republic. Award The two highest honou ...

awarded in 1982 by the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria * Majeobaje of Okuku, a

chieftaincy A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categori ...

title conferred on him by the Olokuku of Okukuland

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogunyemi, Wale 1939 births 2001 deaths Nigerian male film actors Members of the Order of the Niger Nigerian dramatists and playwrights People from Osun State Male actors from Osun State Yoruba dramatists and playwrights Yoruba male actors 20th-century Nigerian male actors Yoruba-language writers Male actors in Yoruba cinema 20th-century Nigerian dramatists and playwrights Nigerian male television actors University of Ibadan alumni Yoruba actors