Jide Kosoko: Biography, Career, Movies & More

Jide Kosoko is a veteran Nigerian actor. He’s known for his role in popular movies like The Figurine, Last Flight to Abuja, Jenifa and Across the Niger.

The actor also has some of his family members in the movie industry. His late wife, Henrietta was a popular actress. He also has two of his children, Sola and Bidemi in the industry.

In this post, we take a look at the life of Jide Kosoko and how he grown to become one of the top actors in the industry.

Early Life & Education

The actor was born on January 12, 1954 in Lagos. He belongs to the Kosoko royal family of Lagos Island. Kosoko studied business administration at Yaba College of Technology.

Career

Kosoko had been involved in movies since he was a child. He was a child actor in the television production, Makanjuola which was released in 1964. He revealed he was paid in coins for this movie.

The actor has featured Nollywood movies of both English and Yoruba Genres. His first movie production was in 1992 when he produced the movie, Asiri Nla (Top Secret).

Personal Life

Kosoko has been married twice and the actor has had a total of 4 wives. However, 3 of his wives are late.

His marriages have produced several children and grandchildren.

The actor revealed in an interview that becoming a polygamist wasn’t his intention but things just happened that way for him.

Following the death of his first two wive, he was in a romantic relationship with two ladies which subsequently led to him marrying them.

His late first wife is the mother of Sola Kosoko a popular actress. According to the Jide Kosoko, Sola’s mother used to work with the Nigerian Customs Service.

Currently, his only wife is Alhaja Kareemat Kosoko. The actor revealed that he doesn’t intend to remarry again as he is satisfied with his current wife.

Movies

Kosoko has featured in over 200 movies since he began acting. Here are some of these movies over the last four decades.

  • Nkan La (1992)
  • Oro Nla (1993)
  • Out of Luck
  • The Department (2015)
  • Gidi Up (2014) (TV Series)
  • Doctor Bello (2013)
  • The Meeting (2012)
  • Last Flight to Abuja (2012)
  • I’ll Take My Chances (2011)
  • The Figurine (2009)
  • Jenifa

 

Family

Jide Kosoko has been married twice. His most popular wife is Henrietta. She was a popular actress and one of the executives of ANTP. Henrietta grew up in the Mushin area of Lagos.

She used to be a caterer before she ventured into acting and it was Jide Kosoko that encouraged her to go into acting. It was the movie, Omolade which was released in 1995 that made her famous.

The actress had 4 children, 2 of them were from her previous marriage while she had two of them when she married Jide Kosoko.

Interestingly, Henrietta became popular as an actor when she got married to Jide Kosoko.

 

Taiwo Olowu is Henrietta’s oldest son. He graduated with a degree in Accounting from Houdegbe North American University, Benin Republic. His twin, Kehinde Olowu is also a graduate from the same university but he studied.

Muyiwa Kosoko and Temilade Kosoko were born after Henrietta got married to Jide Kosoko. They are currently in the University.

Henrietta died at the age of 53 on the 5th of June 2016.

Jide Kosoko has two children in the movie industry.

One of his daughters, Sola Kosoko is a graduate of Theatre Arts from the Lagos State University. The actress once revealed that she wasn’t happy with father’s polygamous nature.

The actor once revealed in an interview that she wasn’t happy with her father married two wives after her mother’s death as she finds his behaviour disrespectful to the memory of her late mother.

 

Sola is happily married with kids to Abiodun Abinna. The actress also disclosed that her father’s advice helped her choose the right man and his counsel has also been pivotal in helping her build her home.

Sola has been in the movie industry since 1999. The movie that shot her to prominence was the popular movie, Omo Olorire. The actress claimed she was paid N3000 for her first movie role which she gave to her father.

Prior to Omo Olorire, Sola had featured in movies like Ola Abata (2000) and Oko Irese (2001). Another movie that made her popular was Ori which was produced by Muyiwa Ademola.

 

Bidemi Kosoko is another of Jide Kosoko’s daughters. She’s also in the movie industry. She also graduated from the Lagos State University where she studied Theatre Arts

Currently, Jide Kosoko has 12 children and almost all of them are university graduates.

Hobbies

Jide Kosoko revealed that he loves to sleep. According to the actor, he even values sleep more than money.

The actor revealed that if he’s at a movie location and a part of the movie has to be shot at night, he usually sleeps in the afternoon.

Kosoko also revealed that he loves dogs and he has several of them in his house.

Endorsements

Jide Kosoko is currently one of the ambassadors of Western Lotto along with the likes of Olu Jacobs, Zack Orji, Ramsey Nouah, Alex Usifo, Osita Iheme, 2face, Olamide and AY.

Controversy

It’s quite strange for someone to lose 3 wives in one’s lifetime. As a result of this, Jide Kosoko has been subject to rumours that he may have killed his wives for money.

However, the actor has since rebuffed the allegations stating that his wives died of natural causes and their deaths were just unfortunate incidences.

Also, there were reports; a few years ago that Jide Kosoko was living in a rented apartment despite his supposed wealth.

Although the actor vehemently denied it, close sources revealed that the house he was living at that time in the Ipaja area of Lagos was a rented apartment.

However, the actor has since moved to his personal property in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.

Nollywood

Kosoko was one of the founding members of the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners. He became an executive member under the late Hubert Ogunde. He started out as PRO and rose to become the president of the Assocation.

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