Who knew late legendary playwright Hubert Ogunde had 12 wives? | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Who knew late legendary playwright Hubert Ogunde had 12 wives?

Who knew legendary actor, playwright, theatre manager, and musician Hubert Ogunde had 12 wives? Pictured above with eight of his twelve wives in 1969.

Ogunde, described as 'the father of Nigerian theatre,' founded the Ogunde Concert Party in 1945, the first professional theatrical company in Nigeria. He died in 1990 at the age of 73.

81 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I never hear dis name before!

      Old skool lapel!!!

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    2. I knew much more,dt he was diabolical on stage too. My dad followed his plays religiously. He is a legend anyway

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    3. sorry rough diamond u must b of ds 21st century

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  2. The wives almost look alike

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  3. U don't say!!! Maybe he wld have lived to the full age of 100 or more, buh.... 12? Hehehehehe I laugh for ogoja. Well him try well well. 73 and 12 shingys. I throwaY salute bAba! U try. If u be man today try am. U no go reach 48. Kudos to polygamist. Ask Jide Kosoko.

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  4. He was a great actor and also a solid juju man

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  5. Looks lik one of them is mama shalewa

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  6. Yeah,I can remember him,rumour has it that most of his play had some fetch (juju) backing,it either the wife or child dies when gearing up for him plays or something strange will sha happen

    Used to be very scared to watch him movies way back then

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  7. I hail dos women, dey share a lot! Eveery includin a man not like me, who can share every excerpt MAN!

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    1. Please what are u saying, don't understand you @ all

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    2. Tiana my love. Miss u so much. Can't wait 2 behold ur boof boof face#lol

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  8. Ikwo, iyabo, mariam, ogaku, nkiru, nneoma,Aisha, fumi, folake, mma adiaha... I lost count. I throway 41 gunshot to u sir. Did u ever know them by their names

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  9. The great Legend himself, the MAN enjoyed himself to the fullest wen he was alive...linda no partial, post my comment.

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  10. well i knew since, i guess wat shuld surprise u is that all his wives where actresses that worked for him and he married them to make his work easier since he travelled alot.

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  11. Typical!
    Literary Icon he was!

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  12. All dis yoruba men after una go talk say na calaba like to do pass una go de oky. Linlin pls post

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    Replies
    1. Comon shut up there, which tribe u be make I start with u

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  13. Yup. Popular knowledge and a couple of ethnic hoes on the side...


    Janet J

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  14. gone are the days,old school thing,Linda bia you never hear of the new padlock key use in closing cheaters dick?

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  15. gone are the days,old school thing,Linda bia you never hear of the new padlock key use in closing cheaters dick?

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    1. Heard of it,..nt dat my boo is a cheat bt ama buy it 4 security purpose...*evil lafta #sipsbaron

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  16. lol. No be smal thing, he may even hav up 2 100 children, so flambergasted!

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  17. Wow! 1dozen dat nyc. Linda will u be my first wife but I wan marry lyk 24 sha but na u go be their iya ile.... Sir alpachino. Sent via nokia 3310

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  18. Wow! 1dozen dat nyc. Linda will u be my first wife but I wan marry lyk 24 sha but na u go be their iya ile.... Sir alpachino. Sent via nokia 3310

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  19. Dammn that niggar is a true traditionalists if his wives mk him happi who am I to judge

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  20. Wow, I am shocked. He lived on Noble Street and I lived on the parallel street. His house was a Mecca of some sorts.

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  21. POP for ceilings existed during Pa Ogundes era.Very good

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  22. This was before the era of Brazilian hair. It must run in the Ogunde family. All the Ogunde's I know are ladies men. Seriously an Ogunde should be allowed more than 1 wife.

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    1. So true! U shld meet one of his grandson dt I knw......... Lex nd tunde,dem lik girls no be small, no be me talk am o *****runsaway****

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  23. That is a REAL MAN !!!!

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  24. Donno,now I no,lindodo,2day is don baba j bday ooo,abi una dey fight ni?

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  25. Nah Nigerian man nah, how many of them do you think he was able to satisfy??? Most of them can not really satisfy one woman yet they marry so many wives, in the end you find that other men are "helping" them perform their bedroom duties. Mtcheew. Most of their children self no be them get am.

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  26. In those days Women where kind of forbidden from 'Popular Travelling Theatre' Alarinjo- and they had to travel to different places to perform so rumour has it Ogunde married this women as they attended the audition so he could move about with them easily.

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  27. As a child, my aunty took us to see his film at national theatre and I had nightmare for weeks. I never followed my aunt anywhere after that day, It was the most scariest thing ever.

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  28. Do you also know that almost all of his wives had died before he died in 1990.dats food for thought! Linda if u like don't post my comment dis is d last time I will comment on ur blog

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  29. linda let me first commend you for tenacity a job well done.for let the new skool know about papa ogunde the legend.linda tell the gospel truth where you born during his time???.a powerful oquestion mark for you.away from that omo d olden days papas dey tryoo,how many joy stick has he,no be only one God give each man.1-12 it is'nt easy oo
    today young men can not try.dem go piey straight.GOD BLESS NIGERIA.

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  30. God doesn't create women like them 12 anymore

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  31. Is no bznss of mine if a fella once married uncountable wyfs, but am getting back at some 2 foolish anons who attacked some other anons over their comments on d issue of Angola destroying mosques.
    @anon 8:16pm, hw hav ur worthless prayers helped curb d menace in naija, dat ur prayers will now protect d gvt of angola from d wrath of Allah.
    @anon 8:27pm, those anons whose generations' destruction u wished, atleast they have generations, u who was uprooted alongside yam tuber in kpanya n in d end u found urself in naija but dnt care hw it happened, u have d balls 2 tlk nonesense, hmmm! Almighty Allah rules, islam 4 lyf nd hereafter+paradise my very last home. 4 ur info, dis is my way of wagging war against fools lyk u who think lib is their means of bedwetting about Islam. Linda post my comment pls and let us mourn 4kn dead haters. Hehehehe. But if u lyk dnt post dis, it does not make me knw u eye 4 eye.

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  32. Legends!!! Back in the day when men were MEN . These days what we have are lazy weaklings hiding at the back of foreign religions to hide their weakness. If i have the means, i wouldn't die sucking a woman's flattened breast. Brave men with great wit , strength, and above all control. These idiots just keep one hyper woman at home and keep opening all the hotel doors in Lagos and beyond with their mistresses destroying the love life of the young and upcoming boys. shame!!! small balled men of this evil generation.

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  33. He was a bridge btwn d oral Yoruba tradition and the new literature/drama. His success owes much to d fact that his large family was the major source of cast/crew. Keeping it in the family, u know.

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  34. Tuface role model!!!

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  35. And none of the wives are fine. Yoruba tinz sha

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  36. Whaaoo him and fela were competing I guess.yoruba pple and ihe si na ukwu nwanyi. Ndi ukwu nnu. Lol.

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  37. Travelling Theatre,Travelling Man,Many Wives!!!

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  38. Wives dey cheap then na, u no see their version of brazillian hair! Rubber hairstyles, make he come try am now marry 12, buy all of them cambodian hair, designer dresses etcetera etcetera! Heheheheh.. bt abeg I was rilly young wen dem dey show his movies and all I fink of when I hear his name or see him is horror n scary tinz, dunno why. Abeg he dey make me av nytmares as a child

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  39. This is what is missing in this generation. Real men who have the balls to do this. I am going to have 10 wives in 5 years. That ish would be so awesome. New punani every day of the week. different foods etc. I will marry 3 Yoruba, 3 Edo/ Benin and then 2 igbo, 1 Ghana and 1 White just for variety.....

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  40. If u r a thespian, den u shld know who this man is!

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  41. It's a bit disturbing that you didn't know he had 12 wives, Linda. This was common knowledge wayyy back in Primary 5!

    -BabyDee

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  42. Yeah.lol. I can stil remember dis picture in my sec sch english textbook tis so nice

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  43. Baba Hubert Ogunde d Iengend himself,rememer so so well e married 12wives chai!! Great childhood Dayz @ No 3 Noble street Alagomeji yaba nw Hubert Ogunde Street. Ws among d lil chap e used 2 give money jst @ d mention of his name n I so enjoyed dancing to all his yoruba cultral songz gud old dayz mehn.

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  44. Yeah.lol. I can stil remember dis picture in my sec sch english textbook tis so nice

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  45. WHEN I WAS GROWING UP..HIS MOVIES WERE THE MOST DEMONIC AND SCARIEST THING EVER!!! AIYE AND JAIYESINMI....BEAUTIFUL WOMEN WILL ENTER THE WATER AND COME OUT LOOKING LIKE THE SCARIEST WITCHES, DEMONS EVER!!...EVERYONE KNEW THE MOVIES HAD A LOT OF EVIL BEHIND THEM!!!!

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  46. Yea i know he had quite a number of wives. P.e of his grandchildren was my roomate on d university. He was a legend

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  47. I knew, he had a house close to ours in adegunwa off alagomeji. Then I was so young but I think he was a herbalist or so... Not sure now, the memories r blurred. If you have the balls then do it. My dad married 5, was interesting, not perfect, but fun...I won't dare it though!

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  48. No be today oleku start Oo˚˚°ยบ‎​h all in wife dem dey on top the matter! Plus that isi eri mehn! Thank God for modernization maka chukwu

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  49. He was a legend. I grew up in the next street (Akinwunmi) and even went to school with some of his children. The fact that he had many wives was not an issue at that time...his household seem to have been a happy one. How many monogamists can claim to be truly happy in their marriages? Our lives are dysfunctional because we now want to copy the white man in everything including his religion and culture.

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  50. Ogunde's marriage to multiple women was also partly business. Most (if not all sef) of his wives worked for him. That is plenty of staffing - who essentially were family members that showed total commitment.

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  51. These women were ppl's wives n gfs he snatchd....12wives only u...plus numerous concubines....Lol

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  52. PI'm polygamy minded guy. I think the issue of polygamy has nothing to do with Religion. It something that has to do with tribe and it common among yorubas. Its not until when u r rich before u can marry 12 wifes in yorubaland it possible for average yoruba man that lives with less than 1000 naira to marry 6 wifes and stil happy with themselves and it a plus when u r rich yoruba guy. I have seen a yoruba christain that married 10 wifes. I never seen a white man t marrys 5 wifes at a time.. If u see igbos marry 3 wifes at a time it has being influenced by yoruba...... I think yoruba man can handle woman better we ar so confident that we don't have to cheat we rather marry them...I have seen a white man who has jet, fleet of cars, horse, boat, yacht mansion and stil lack woman in his life. Its not that he don't wanted to get married bt he don't know how to do dat..... Lemme tel you if we never knew of western life we will aal be in the dark and live our normal life....weather u r rich or poor yoruba doesn't stop u from dealing girl, I think yoruba people know much about woman and lifes.... I am stil tryin to find my balance as am a polygamist, I won't want to continue to marry 100 wifes as we had learnt from d whytsss dat he caused poverty. I could marry white woman simutaneously and achive my aim of being polygamist and will only marry one yoruba woman...ill never marry two nigerian woman....that's the logic post my comment ooo

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  53. There are many men married to one wife but have lost count of the number of women they have slept with.

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  54. HE GOT MARRIED TO ALL THOSE WOMEN BECAUSE OF THE ACTING BUSINESS, , DURING THOSE PERIOD , IF YOU ARE AN ACTRESS , NO ONE WOULD WANT TO MARRY YOU.
    SO , HE GOT MARRIED TO THEM , SAME AS FELLA .
    I DO NOT THINK THAT ANYTHING WRONG IN GETTING MARRIED TO A LOT OF WOMEN IF YOU CAN TAKE CARE OF THEM.

    ALL THOSE WIVES HAVE BECOME SISTERS AND THEY CAN NOT DO AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, THEY WERE ALL HAPPILY LIVING TOGETHER WITH OGUNDE,
    THEY ARE ALL VERY FRIENDLY TO EACH OTHER , NO ONE KNOWS THAT THEY WERE ALL MARRIED TO ONE HUSBAND.

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  55. @Anon Nov. 26 3:32- I laugh in Ikom (Ejagam to be precise), my brother/sister!

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  56. @El Toro are you speaking french?

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  57. HEy, I rely on your blog for naija news as im not in Naija. i am one of his grandchildren and I can tell you he has more than 12 wives. However, contrary to popular belief, his wives don't die after each movie he makes. He was a legend.

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  58. I hate women who go and marry a man with a wife.....making men feel like they are a big deal......second, thirds or whatever wives are a disgrace to humanity......any woman who values herself will find her own husband.....I will rather be the first and if he likes go and cheat behind my back that's his headache and cross but to be an a spare tyre God forbid......

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  59. MY DEAR U DON'T HATE SUCH WOMEN AS MUCH AS I DO.TO BE VERY HONEST WITH YOU, THOSE WOMEN ARE NOT HAPPY. THEY ARE ONLY PRETENDING TO BE BUT THE TRUE FACT IS THAT THEY AREN'T HAPPY AT ALL. WHAT KIND OF MONEY OR LOOKS WOULD A MAN POSSES THAT WILL MAKE ME STOOP SO LOW AS TO BE A 2ND WIFE,NOT TO TALK OF BEING THE 12TH OR EVEN THE LEAST? GOD FORBID!!!

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  60. Linda for your information , thats my grand father and he had more than 12. Wives and he died at the age of 74 , na fact , dont argue it , abi do u want to know my grandfather more than I do

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  61. Hubert Ogunde had more than 12 wives and he died aged 74 at Cromwell Hospital West London in April 1990. Bayo Ogunde (boyogunde@ymail.com)

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  62. Hubert Ogunde had more than 12 wives and he died aged 74 at Cromwell Hospital West London in April 1990. Bayo Ogunde (boyogunde@ymail.com)

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of Linda Ikeji.

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