Pete Edochie: All You Need To Know About The Respected Veteran Nollywood Actor

Born on March 7, 1947, in Enugu Nigeria, Chief Pete Edochie is a Nigerian actor who began his career in the broadcasting corporation at age 20 before moving into the movie industry.

Though he hails from Anambra State, he was raised in Zaria, Kaduna. He began his primary education at St. Patrick’s and St. James Primary School, Zaria. And then proceeded to St. John’s College for secondary education. Subsequently, Edochie attended the School of Journalism and Television in England and also did a few related courses overseas.

After secondary school, before moving to England to study, Edochie worked briefly with the Nigerian Railway Corporation. Then after school, he got into broadcasting in 1967.

At the young age of 20, he got into the broadcasting corporation. He started as a junior program assistant and rose to the position of director where he acted in various directorial capacity. However, he was compelled to leave the radio station because the then military government decided to politicize the affairs of the radio station.

He joined Nollywood after his exit from broadcasting, where through his dedication and hard work, he finally came to limelight in the 1980s after playing a lead role, Okonkwo in a screen adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

Since then, Pete has featured in hundreds of movies and has been awarded both locally and internationally. He is even regarded as one of Africa’s greatest actors and was honoured as Member of the Order of the Niger in 2003 by President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Widely regarded as Africa’s most respected actor and Nigeria’s best, Chief Edochie has mainly made his name as a disciplinarian, principled and strict character in most of the movies he has starred in, transcending international barriers.

Chief Edochie got married to Josephine Edochie at age 22, and the union is blessed with six children: 5 boys and 1 girl. Two of his sons; Linc and Yul Edochie are popular because they are also professional actors in the industry.

The veteran actor has received several awards including Movie Personality of the Year, City People Magazine, 1999, Best Actor in Africa, Censors’ Board, 2001, Best Actor in Nigeria, Censors’ Board, 2003, Member of the Order of the Niger, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, 2003, Special Recognition Award, Best of Nollywood (BON), along with Lanre Hassan (Iya Awero), Former Governor Emmanuel Udaghan, 2013, Lifetime Achievement Award, Africa Movie Academy Awards, 2013, Industry Merit Award, Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, 2014, and Life Impact Awards, Times Heroes Awards, 2017.

In 2005 the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria placed Pete Edochie and several other actors, including Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Nkem Owoh, Ramsey Noah, Stella Damasus Aboderin, and Richard Mofe Damijo on a one-year ban from filming after they were said to have been collecting huge fees from producers due to their A-list celebrity status.

In 2009 Edochie was kidnapped and later released by his captors unharmed.

Source: GhanaCelebrities.Com