I Started Acting Four Years Before Pete Edochie — Lere Paimo

Veteran Nollywood actor, Lere Paimo has said he started acting four years before veteran actor Pete Edochie, disputing Pete’s recent claim about the beginning of his acting career.

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The 86-year-old with stage name “Eda Onile Ola” said he started acting in 1958, while Pete recently traced the beginning of his career to 1962, when he was 15.

The issue of who began acting earlier has resurfaced among some of Nigeria’s veteran actors after Pete challenged actors who claim to have started their careers before him to come forward and prove it.Nigerian business insights

Pete recently made the remarks during an appearance on Curiosity Made Me Ask, where he cited his performance in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in 1962 as evidence of how far back his acting career dates.

The 79-year-old said his career began on stage years before Nollywood emerged and challenged contemporaries who claimed professional seniority over him.

Lere has now responded, saying he began acting in 1958, four years before Pete’s stated beginning in 1962.

Speaking during an interview with actor Kunle Afod, posted on YouTube, Lere said he was already acting when Pete began his career.

“I started acting in 1958, and it was in 1962 that Pete Edochie started acting. I met Hubert Ogunde, who was senior to me and others, and there were big  movies produced back then,” he said.

Lere also questioned the suggestion that Pete belonged to the earliest generation of Nigerian actors, citing late theatre legend Hubert Ogunde and the Yoruba travelling theatre tradition that preceded both men.

According to him, Ogunde was the foremost actor he knew while growing up, before English language productions became prominent.

“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.

The Ogbori Elemosho actor also addressed claims about whether other theatre practitioners may have started before Ogunde.

He said he could not establish whether Baba Olumegbon began acting before Ogunde but maintained that Ogunde was already an established practitioner when he entered the industry.

“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,” Lere said.

Lere began his career in the Yoruba travelling theatre tradition and worked with the Oyin Adejobi Theatre Group before joining Duro Ladipo’s Theatre Group. He played Chief Basa in Ladipo’s stage production Obamoro.

He later established his own theatre company in 1973 and became known for roles in Yoruba theatre and film. His portrayal of Soun Ogunola in Ogbori Elemosho became one of his best known performances.

Lere was also among the recipients of the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic, MFR, conferred in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to Nigeria.