Veteran Yoruba actor Lere Paimo has disputed Pete Edochie’s account of when he began acting, claiming that his own career started four years before that of the veteran star of Things Fall Apart.
Paimo, 86, said he entered the acting profession in 1958, while Edochie recently stated that his acting career began in 1962, when he was 15 years old.
The debate over seniority among Nigeria’s veteran actors resurfaced after Edochie challenged colleagues who claimed they started acting before him to come forward and substantiate their assertions.
Speaking during an interview with actor Kunle Afod, shared on YouTube on Monday, Paimo maintained that he was already an actor by the time Edochie started his career.
“I started acting in 1958. I met Hubert Ogunde, who was senior to me and others, and there were big movies produced back then,” he said.
Edochie had previously referred to his appearance in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in 1962 as evidence of his early involvement in acting.
Paimo, however, traced the roots of indigenous Nigerian theatre further back, pointing to the Yoruba travelling-theatre tradition and the late theatre icon Hubert Ogunde.
“I heard from history that when he (Hubert Ogunde) started in the ’40s, there was nobody before him, and we never heard from history that the English industry, or any movie done in the English language, started before him.
“Since we didn’t hear or read that in any history books or documentation, I believe the Yoruba industry started first.
“There was nothing like English-speaking movie production then; Ogunde started by producing movies in the Yoruba language, which he used to educate everyone who watched those movies back then. We never heard about English-speaking movies until now, when, with civilisation, we started hearing and seeing that there are English-speaking movies,” he said.
Prompt News reports Paimo also addressed speculation about whether other theatre practitioners, including Baba Olumegbon, could have begun acting before Ogunde.
“I don’t know if Baba Olumegbon started before Ogunde, but all I know is that Ogunde was the person I knew who started acting first. Although I have been hearing about him for a long time, I can’t say he was senior to Ogunde,” Paimo said.
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Paimo started his career within the Yoruba travelling-theatre tradition and later worked with the Oyin Adejobi Theatre Group, established by veteran theatre practitioner Oyin Adejobi.
He subsequently joined Duro Ladipo’s Theatre Group, where he portrayed Chief Basa in the stage production Obamoro.
The veteran actor later became a prominent figure in Yoruba theatre and film, earning wider recognition for his portrayal of Soun Ogunola in the epic production Ogbori Elemosho.
