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Jude Akuwudike (born 1965) is a Nigerian actor. He has mostly worked in the United Kingdom, on screen and stage.

He has appeared in productions of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.

Early life

Born in Nigeria, West Africa, Akuwudike moved to Britain and was educated at St Augustine's College in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, an independent Roman Catholic boarding school. In 1985, he began to train for an acting career at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1987.

Career

In 1988, Akuwudike played Captain Watkin Tench in Our Country's Good at the Royal Court Theatre. His first film appearance was in the same year, as a priest in A World Apart. An early leading role came in 1989 in the play The Fatherland by Murray Watts, at the Bush Theatre at Riverside, and his first significant part on television was as Sergeant Gummer in the drama serial Virtual Murder (1991).

Throughout his career, Akuwudike has worked mainly on stage, including appearing in several productions for the National Theatre, notably Not About Nightingales, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, and Ion. He has also appeared for the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as working on Broadway. He has also had many roles in film and television and is a voice actor.

In 1998, in the first British production of Not About Nightingales by Tennessee Williams, directed by Trevor Nunn at the National Theatre, Akuwudike originated the part of "the Queen", a gay prisoner. In 2002 he played the black pimp in a Royal National Theatre production of Edmond, with Kenneth Branagh in the title role.

From February to May 2011, Akuwudike was Abel Magwitch in an English Touring Theatre production of Great Expectations (adapted by Tanika Gupta), with Lynn Farleigh as Miss Havisham.

In the Cary Joji Fukunaga film Beasts of No Nation (2015), Akuwudike played Supreme Commander Dada Goodblood, leader of an unnamed West African country torn by civil war.

In September 2018, it was announced that Akuwudike had been cast alongside Joe Cole and Sope Dirisu in a new Cinemax television serial called Gangs of London, then in production.

The Actor's career has been centered on stage performances which includes notable roles in movie production for the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespare Company.

Personal life

Jude's Networth is estimated to be around $4 million. Jude is currently at the age of 58years as of 2023. He is married with a wife and children although the number of children is not stated.

It is stated that both his parents played a notable role in his personal life and career. He has a brother and a sister although specific details are not mentioned.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Games

Awards and nominations

Notes

1. NetflixReleases. "Jude Akuwudike". www.netflixreleases.com. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
2. Tiziana Morosetti, Africa on the Contemporary London Stage (2018), p. 104.
3. Jane Milling, Modern British Playwriting: the 80s (2012), p. 211.
4. Timberlake Wertenbaker, Our Country's Good (2015), p. 16.
5. J. T. Rogers, The Overwhelming (2006), "Biographies".
6. "The Fatherland", programme from the Bush Theatre at Riverside, 1989.
7. About the Players Archived 11 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine at shakespeare.nd.edu (Shakespeare at Notre Dame). Retrieved 21 February 2019.
8. Plays and Players Applause, Issue 521 (1998), p. 9.
9. Plays International, Volume 18 (Chancery Publications, 2002), p. 14.
10. Howard Loxton (2011). "Great Expectations". British Theatre Guide.
11. Mary Hammond, Charles Dickens's Great Expectations: A Cultural Life, 1860–2012 (2015), Appendix C.
12. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, "Idris Elba highlights the flawed Beasts of No Nation", 15 October 2015 at film.avclub.com. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
13. Alex Ritman, Gangs of London Cinemax Series Sets Cast dated 12 May 2018, hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
14. "Jude Akuwudike Biography, Early Life, Personal Life, Career, Family, Parents, Net Worth & More". whoiswriter.com. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
15. "Jude Akuwudike Biography, Early Life, Personal Life, Career, Family, Parents, Net Worth & More". whoiswriter.com. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
16. "Jude Akuwudike Biography, Early Life, Personal Life, Career, Family, Parents, Net Worth & More". whoiswriter.com. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
17. Bakare, Tonye (28 March 2021). "Jude Akuwudike: Being Eyimofe". The Guardian (Nigeria). Retrieved 22 August 2021.
18. Warner, Deborah. "Richard II, 1997". Deborah Warner. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
19. "Jude Akuwudike". Hamilton Hodell. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
20. "Jude Akuwudike - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
21. "11th Screen Nation Film & Television Awards 2016: Rewarding Excellence – Celebrating Diversity". The Nigerian Voice. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
22. Banjo, Noah (29 October 2021). "FULL LIST: Ayinla, Omo Ghetto: The Saga bag multiple nominations at AMAA 2021". Punch Newspapers. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.

External links

• Jude Akuwudike at IMDb
• Jude Akuwudike at RADA

• 1965 births
• Living people
• 20th-century Nigerian male actors
• 21st-century Nigerian male actors
• Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
• Nigerian male film actors
• Nigerian male stage actors
• Nigerian male television actors
• Igbo actors