By Kamil Opeyemi
Jimi Solanke, actor in some of the most legendary drama productions in Nigeria has died.
Solanke, a member of the arts family of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.
Solanke reportedly died in the hours of Monday after a brief illness.
It was gathered that he was being conveyed to the Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital, when he gave up.
Born on July 4, 1942, in Ipara Remo, Solanke was a member of the Orisun Theatre Group, founded by the renowned Wole Soyinka, in 1961.
He had featured prominently in drama productions such as as “Death and the King’s Horseman,” “Kurunmi,” “Kongi’s Harvest,” “The Divorce,” and “Ovaramwen Nogbaisi.”
Known more also as a story teller, Solanke relocated to Nigeria from the United Kingdom where he had also run a restuarant where people ate local Nigerian foods as well as listen to him perform.