Veteran Broadcaster, chief Julie Coker has joined her nephew and niece Baba-Jallah Epega and Jayjay Epega together with Film Producer Danny Prescott and others to celebrate the life and times of Nigerian Hollywood Legend Orlando Martins, who is his Uncle to the Epega Family.

Coker celebrated the Nigerian Hollywood legend during an exclusive interview organised by Doug Hess for James Lott Jr’s Los Angeles-based JLJ Media for ‘forgotten Hollywood’, noting that they are developing a film around his life.

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According to her, “December 8th, 2021 – marks 122 years since his birth. Orlando Martins (8 December 1899 – 25 September 1985) was a pioneering Nigerian film and stage actor. In the late 1940s, he was one of England’s most prominent and leading black actors, and in a poll conducted in 1947, he was listed among England’s top 15 favourite actors.

“Martins was born in Lagos and moved to London after World War 1, stumbling on acting in his search for a means of livelihood. At the Lyceum Theatre, Martins got his first theatre job as an actor in training. From the 1920s till World War II Martins featured as an extra in a handful of films including the infamous ‘Sanders of the River’ directed by Alexander Korda starring the legendary American actor, Paul Robeson, he also explored his skills in the circus and professional wrestling.

“Post the second World War, Orlando’s acting career soared with features in ‘Men of Two Worlds’ (1946), ‘The Men From Morocco’ (1945), ‘The Hasty Heart’ (1949) alongside Ronald Reagan, ‘BBC Sunday-Night Theatre’ (1950), ‘Where No Vultures Fly’ (1951), ‘Simba’ (1955), The Nun’s Story alongside Audrey Hepburn among others. Other golden age stars he appeared on screen with included Bob Hope, Trevor Howard, Dirk Bogarde, Janet Leigh, Edie Adams, Anthony Newley, Lionel Jeffries, Virginia McKenna, Denholm Elliott, Victor Mature, Robert Mitchum, Richard Todd, and Patricia Neal.

“He moved back to Lagos in 1959 where he promptly took to stage performances featuring in notable stage plays including the screen adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s ‘Kongi’s Harvest’ . Martins’ final film role was in the film adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’.

“Pa Orlando Martins died in Lagos on September 25, 1985, at 85”.