Wale Ogunyemi
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Wale Ogunyemi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 August 1939 |
| Died | 17 December 2001 (aged 62) |
| Citizenship | Nigerian |
| Alma mater | University of Ibadan |
| Occupation | playwright |
| Years active | 1963–2001 |
| Known for | The Lion and the Jewel Kongi's Harvest Sango Langbodo[1] |
Chief Wale Ogunyemiⓘ, OFR (12 August 1939 – 17 December 2001) was a Nigerian veteran seasoned dramatist, film actor, prolific playwright, and Yoruba language scholar.[2][3]
Ogunyemi was born on 12 August 1939 at Igbajo, a city in Osun State, southwestern Nigeria to Samuel Adeosun and Mary Ogunyemi.[4] He attended the University of Ibadan 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.[5][6][7]
Career
Ogunyemi began his acting career as a seasonal actor with the new western Nigerian television service in the early 1960s.[8] He later worked with professor Wole Soyinka, a Nobel Laureate and became a foundation member of Soyinka Orisun Theatre.[9] His credible performance made him a choice for the role he played as "The bale" in The Lion and the Jewel[10] and Dende in Kongi's Harvest by professor Wole Soyinka.[11] He also featured in The Beatification Of Area Boy, a play by Wole Soyinka premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 1995.[12] He had written and co-scripted several drama before his death in December 2001.[13][14]
