Sidede Onyulo
Encyclopedia
Sidede Onyulo was a Kenya
n actor, most famous for his role as Owour in Oscar winning movie Nowhere in Africa
.
where he studied law between 1975 and 1978. In 1979, Onyulo quit his law practice and decided to embrace theatre, a decision that was denounced by his friends and his family.
Onyulo explained in an interview why acting had such a small number of fans in Kenya:
“They think this is a career that should not be taken seriously and look down upon actors. They think we are mad the way the people of Kafira thought Jasper Wendo was in Betrayal of the city.”
's play Trials of Brother Jero. He followed this with various roles in Micere Githae Mugo
and Ngugi wa Thiongo’s Trial of Dedan Kimathi and Francis Imbuga
’s Betrayal in the City which were also presented at All Africa Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in Nigeria in 1977.
Onyulo made his film debut in 1987 when he received the role of a house boy in Shadow on the Sun.
It is said that Kenyan film experts recommended him at a very early stage for the role of Owour, in Nowhere in Africa
, but he could not be found, having moved away from Nairobi
to Kisumu
, in the Western part of Kenya. A local casting agent tracked him down to his home village near Lake Victoria
and offered him the role that brought him fame at an international level. He was said to be a modest man, unaware that he had won the Best Supporting Actor award in the Dublin Film Festival for his role as Owour. Film producer Peter Herrman later presented the award to him.
He has been in several major film productions, including The Last Elephant (1990), Eye of a Witness (1991), Nowhere in Africa
(2003), King Solomon's Mines
(2004), and The Constant Gardener
(2005).
documentary Price of a Daughter.
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n actor, most famous for his role as Owour in Oscar winning movie Nowhere in Africa
Nowhere in Africa
Nowhere in Africa is a 2001 German film directed by Caroline Link and based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Stefanie Zweig. It tells the story of a Jewish family that emigrates to Kenya during World War II to escape the Nazis and run a farm...
.
Early life
Sidede Onyulo was born Peter Sidede Onyulo in Kajulu (Kenya), attended school at Muthaiga Primary (1965-1968) and at Nairobi School (1969-1976) before enrolling at the University of NairobiUniversity of Nairobi
The University of Nairobi is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution goes back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970 when the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities: Makerere University in...
where he studied law between 1975 and 1978. In 1979, Onyulo quit his law practice and decided to embrace theatre, a decision that was denounced by his friends and his family.
Onyulo explained in an interview why acting had such a small number of fans in Kenya:
“They think this is a career that should not be taken seriously and look down upon actors. They think we are mad the way the people of Kafira thought Jasper Wendo was in Betrayal of the city.”
Theatre and film
He made his acting debut with Jero in Wole SoyinkaWole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
's play Trials of Brother Jero. He followed this with various roles in Micere Githae Mugo
Micere Githae Mugo
Micere Githae Mugo is a playwright, author, activist, instructor and poet from Kenya. she is a literary critic and professor of literature in the Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University...
and Ngugi wa Thiongo’s Trial of Dedan Kimathi and Francis Imbuga
Francis D. Imbuga
Francis Imbuga is a Kenyan playwright and literature scholar whose works, including Aminata and Betrayal in the City, have become staples in the study of literature schools in Kenya. His works have consistently dealt with issues such as the clashes of modernity and tradition in the social...
’s Betrayal in the City which were also presented at All Africa Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in Nigeria in 1977.
Onyulo made his film debut in 1987 when he received the role of a house boy in Shadow on the Sun.
It is said that Kenyan film experts recommended him at a very early stage for the role of Owour, in Nowhere in Africa
Nowhere in Africa
Nowhere in Africa is a 2001 German film directed by Caroline Link and based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Stefanie Zweig. It tells the story of a Jewish family that emigrates to Kenya during World War II to escape the Nazis and run a farm...
, but he could not be found, having moved away from Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
to Kisumu
Kisumu
Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
, in the Western part of Kenya. A local casting agent tracked him down to his home village near Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
and offered him the role that brought him fame at an international level. He was said to be a modest man, unaware that he had won the Best Supporting Actor award in the Dublin Film Festival for his role as Owour. Film producer Peter Herrman later presented the award to him.
He has been in several major film productions, including The Last Elephant (1990), Eye of a Witness (1991), Nowhere in Africa
Nowhere in Africa
Nowhere in Africa is a 2001 German film directed by Caroline Link and based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Stefanie Zweig. It tells the story of a Jewish family that emigrates to Kenya during World War II to escape the Nazis and run a farm...
(2003), King Solomon's Mines
King Solomon's Mines
King Solomon's Mines is a popular novel by the Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the missing brother of one of the party...
(2004), and The Constant Gardener
The Constant Gardener
The Constant Gardener is a 2001 novel by John le Carré. It tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat whose activist wife is murdered...
(2005).
Other work
Onyulo was actively involved in grass-roots organizing of the film industry in Kenya, working with various performing arts groups. He also worked with non-governmental organizations, lending his talent to the anti-female-genital-mutilation SwahiliSwahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
documentary Price of a Daughter.