Joke Silva: Biography, career, movies, awards

Joke Silva is a well-known Nollywood actress, producer, director, businessperson, and philanthropist.

Biography

Joke Silva was born on September 29, 1961. Joke Silva was born in Lagos into a Saro/Amaro family with four children. In July 2015, her mother, the pioneering physician Adebimbola Silva, passed away. Her great-grandfathers were well-known Nigerian figures Charles Phillips and Samuel Herbert Pearse, and her father, Chief Emmanuel Afolabi Silva, was a lawyer.

Joke Silva studied at Holy Child College, Lagos. She belonged to a cultural group at the University of Lagos that featured Stella Monye and dramatist Bode Osanyin. Joke Silva took a year out from school, during which she started acting jobs. Silva next moved to England, where she attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London to study drama.

Her parents first resisted her decision to pursue a career in theatre, but they quickly changed their minds and began to support her as they rejoiced in the accomplishments of her work. She went back to school to study English at the University of Lagos during a sluggish time in her professional life.

Career

Joke Silva has acted in many English and Yoruba language movies and television shows. She played one of her first parts in the 1990 English movie Mind Bending. She first appeared in Owulorojo in 1993, then Violated two years later. She played Nene in the 1998 British-Canadian film The Secret Laughter of Women, which also starred Colin Firth and Nia Long. After noting Silva’s role, author Finola Kerrigan said she stood out as an extraordinary actor in the Nigerian film business.

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In the movie Keeping Faith from 2002, Joke Silva played alongside Bimbo Akintola. Silva, who she refers to as “Aunty Joke,” was later named by Akintola as a significant career influence. She continued, “Silva has done a lot, but it’s not even about the things she did, it’s about the things she didn’t realise that she did.” Silva and Olu Jacobs co-produced and performed in The Kingmaker in 2002. Roles in films like A Husband’s Wife (2003), Shylock (2004), and A Past Came Calling (2004) followed.

For her performance in Women’s Cot, Joke Silva won the Best Actress in a Leading Role award at the 2nd Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2006. Later that year, Silva co-starred with Genevieve Nnaji in the action thriller 30 Days by Mildred Okwo, which was nominated for 10 2008 Africa Movie Academy Awards. She also provided the narration for The Amazing Grace, an Anglo-Nigerian production by Jeta Amata filmed in Calabar. Critics praised the movie and it received 11 African Movie Academy Award nominations.

In Ndubuisi Okoh’s To Love and to Hold, released in 2007, Joke Silva featured alongside Kate Henshaw-Nuttal, Michael Okon, and Fred Essien. She earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2008 for her detailed depiction of a grandma in White Waters (2007), but she was not present to accept the honour in person. Joke Silva claimed in an interview in November 2008 that she would pray and utilise Jesus as her hedge anytime she had to play an evil character in a movie. Silva has also received the SOLIDRA Award for Visual Art and the EMOTAN Award from African Independent Television (AIT).

In Kunle Afolayan’s romantic comedy Phone Swap, which came out in 2011, Joke Silva featured alongside Nse Ikpe Etim, Wale Ojo, and Lydia Forson. It was praised by critics and was one of the year’s most anticipated movies. It was nominated for four awards at the 8th Africa Movie Academy Awards, including Best Nigerian Film. Additionally, it received the Achievement in Productions Design award. At the Agip Hall of the Muson Centre of Lagos during the Christmas season of 2013, Silva took the stage to perform in the Thespian Family Theatre and Productions’ Mad King of Ijudiya.

Joke Silva is the co-founder of Lufodo Group. They cover film productions and distribution. She is also the co-founder of the Lufodo Academy of Performing Arts, where she is the Director of Studies. She was also a judge on the popular music show, Project Fame.

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Movies

Joke Silva has acted in over 200 movies. Below is a list of some of her movies.

• Laughter of Women.
• Last Wedding.
• Women’s Cot.
• 30 Days.
• Eewo Orisa.
• The Secret.
• The Royal Hibiscus Hotel.
• Potato Potahto.
• Chief Daddy.
• Chief Daddy 2.
• Diamonds in the Sky.
• Two Weeks in Lagos.
• Namaste Wahala.

Television shows

• Battleground

Awards

Joke Silva has won and been nominated for numerous acting accolades, including Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Second Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2006 and Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the Fourth Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2008. At the International Conference Centre in Abuja on September 29, 2014, Joke Silva was presented with a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic, one of Nigeria’s highest honours.

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Family

Joke Silva has two kids and is married to veteran actor Olu Jacobs. While attending the 21st Independence anniversary at the National Theatre in Lagos in 1981, the pair became friends. Their marriage is one of the longest marriages in Nollywood.

In an interview with Chude Jideonwo, Joke Silva stated in November 2021 that her husband Olu Jacobs is battling Lewy body and dementia.

Tribe

Joke Silva is from Lagos State, Nigeria.

Age

Joke Silva was born on September 29, 1961. She will be 61 years old this year.

Conclusion

Joke Silva is a veteran actor whose works have been an inspiration to many young actors. She has paved the way for many aspiring actors in the industry.

Joke Silva is an actor, but she also works as a philanthropist and a vocal advocate for women’s freedom and empowerment, supporting their advancement via education and training.

In 2020, Joke Silva was in charge of the campaign against sick Nollywood stars soliciting money to cover their medical expenses. Joke Silva accomplished this through the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, which made public plans to launch health insurance programmes for its members.

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