10th March, 2020
By Jennifer Okundia & Taiwo Okanlawon
Jide Kosoko ticks the boxes of Grace, grit, longevity, and versatility, all attributes of a living legend. The veteran actor is not your regular on-screen celebrity having managed to maintain his craft at a top level for half a century.
Born January 12, 1954, Jide Kosoko made his first bow in the acting world when he was 10 years old. He was picked up to appear in “Makanjuola” thanks to his displays when playing with his peers.
According to the sexagenarian star in a 2016 interview with The Nation, his love for acting was fuelled by the late acting star, Hubert Adedeji Ogunde, who lived in the same neighbourhood as he.
Sure, his love for theatre arts and film faced opposition from his parents who belonged to the Lagos royalty. Jide Kosoko was born a prince and the arts was not highly regarded at the time – and for a long time after. He persevered and by age 18, he had formed his own theatre group called Babkok Group in 1972.
The group’s formation was a move which, according to him, led his parents to ease up on their opposition and begin to accept their son’s choice to walk the path of arts. His group was later renamed the Jide Kosoko theatre group, was enjoying.
Since then, he has not looked back having gone on to produce more plays for the theatre stage and was behind the cameras for the 1987 film, “Ojiji”. As a result, Jide Kosoko stated he had no intention to become a king since his focus was fully on the film industry where he would end up as a king anyway.
The reverence which the veteran actor has earned in Nollywood comes from his starring roles in hundreds of films and television productions such as “Nkan La” in 1992, “Perfect Murder” (2004), the commercially successful “Jenifa” in 2008 and its sequel. A year later he starred in the award-winning Kunle Afolayan film, “The Figurine”, as well as “The Meeting” and “Last Flight to Abuja” in 2012.
Jide Kosoko has also starred in TV drama, “Tinsel”. He was Chief Segun Adeniyi in “The Royal Hibiscus Hotel” which screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. e enjoyed more success at the Nollywood Box Office the following year with his appearances in “Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons” and “King of Boys”.
Both films made over N100 million and along with his role as Baba Eko in 2019’s “The Bling Lagosians”, Jide Kosoko has not only maintained his status as a great actor, he has also become among the most bankable ones in present-day Nollywood.
It should come as little surprise considering how he strives to be better at his craft. Jide Kosoko may have studied Business Administration as a young man at Yaba College of Education but to head back to school in his sixties and study Performing Arts – years into his career as an actor – at Olabisi Onabanjo University speaks volumes about how seriously he takes his work and its quality.
Now, that is how to age like fine wine in the industry and remain royal.