Veteran Nigerian actor, Oludotun Baiyewu Jacobs, popularly known as Olu Jacobs, has died at the age of 84.

Born on July 11, 1942, he passed away on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.

His son, Olusoji Jacobs, announced his demise in an Instagram post on Wednesday morning, describing the late actor as the “Lion of Lufodo” and asking bloggers and social media influencers to respect the family’s privacy.

Although the younger Jacobs did not reveal the cause of death, the elder Jacobs’ passing came less than five years after his wife, Joke Silva, who is equally a veteran actor, revealed that her husband was battling dementia with lewy bodies (DLB). In an interview with media personality Jideonwo Chude in November 2021, Silva said the condition was a degenerative disease.

“It is a degenerative disease that affects the brain, and it is almost like a Parkinson’s type of disease, it affects the brain… It’s been hard on him because he doesn’t understand what is going on and also on family members as well. We have gone through it over the past couple of years,” she said at the time.

“Olu Jacobs suffers from dementia with Lewy bodies, a degenerative disease that affects the brain. It’s like Parkinson’s, but it affects the brain rather than the body, and he doesn’t even understand what’s going on.”

—Joke Silva, his wife pic.twitter.com/cX8Kk8D2LL

— carter🌚 (@carter8f) September 16, 2026

Jacobs was one of the most recognisable faces in Nigeria’s film industry, thanks to his strides in theatre, television and film. He was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in England and began his acting career in Britain, working with repertoire theatres and appearing in British television productions such as Till Death Us Do Part, The Professionals and The Tomorrow People, alongside other international films.

@nostalgicsound_ng

Veteran Nollywood Actor, Olu Jacobs, playing the Role of a TV Repair Man in a British sitcom “Till D£ath Us Do Part,” in the 1970s. . . Olu Jacob’s acting career can be dated back to over five decades, being one of the oldest actors in the Nigerian movie industry. He travelled to England after his education in Nigeria and was trained at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. . He then appeared in various British television shows and series in the 1970s (including The Goodies, Till Death Us Do Part, Barlow at Large, The Venturers, Angels, 1990, The Tomorrow People and The Professionals). . . A BIG salute to the living Legend!🏆 . . . #olujacobs #britishsitcom #nostalgia #Nostalgicsoundng #tiktoknigeria🇳🇬 #Vintage #throwback #london

♬ original sound – Nostalgic Sound Media

After returning to Nigeria in the late 1980s, he became a prominent figure in Nollywood, quickly building a reputation as the industry’s go-to actor for kings, chiefs, generals and stern patriarchs. His commanding voice and regal, unhurried screen presence gave those roles their weight; he rarely needed to raise his voice to convey authority. Over a career that spanned more than 300 local and international productions, he was widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the film industry.

Beyond acting, Jacobs was an institution-builder. Alongside his wife, he co-founded the Lufodo Group, a media company whose Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts trained younger generations of actors; work that underlies the “Lion of Lufodo” tribute in his family’s statement.

Jacobs won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2007. He also received the Industry Merit Award at the 2013 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) and the AMAA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

His unmatched presence on screen will undoubtedly be missed by millions of fans across Nigeria and beyond.