Ogogo was the first movie star I knew: A tribute to Taiwo Ogogo Hassan, the Action King

On Sunday, August 23, 2026, Nigerians got the sad news of the death of the great actor Alhaji Taiwo Hassan, aka Ogogo Omo Kulodo, after a battle with stage 4 cancer. He was 66 years old.

I was unsure about writing this tribute because what do I even say? The late actor’s acting career spans longer than I have been alive. I was a toddler when he featured in the first instalment of Tade Ogidan’s 1996 classic trilogy ‘Owo Blow’, where his performance as “Wole Owolabi,” a man battling fate and morality in search of purpose, propelled him to wider fame.

Thirty years after dazzling in that historic cinematic masterpiece, the iconic actor bade farewell to this earth, and his peers, fans, and the Nigerian movie industry have been thrown into mourning.

By all yardsticks, Ogogo was a famous actor, one of the most famous of his generation and perhaps the most recognisable leading man of Yoruba movies in the 90s and 2000s. However, the length of his fame is better appreciated in the wake of his passing. Not only was he famous, but he was super famous. Audiences who experienced the height of his stardom have debated which movies rank highest in his catalogue. Respected culture writers like Ayomide Tayo and Dami Ajayi have penned flowing tributes that carry the valuable context of curators who absorbed his greatness while it reverberated across living rooms and cinema houses nationally.

Now, I do not pretend to hold the knowledge to engage in a ranking of Ogogo’s greatest movies. I am unable to debate whether his star shone brightest in ‘Abule Sowo’, ‘Omolomo’, ‘Ibinu Elewon’, ‘Irapada’, or the other great performances he delivered across his lengthy career. However, I do know the admiration with which my parents talked about him. Even in my pre-teens, I can recall how it was a big deal every time Ogogo appeared in a new movie, and how the cassettes were quickly bought or rented, as was common then, and traded between neighbours.

"Ebony Alhaji," as my mother often called him. "He's filled with action," she would say in Yoruba about his acting, excitement in her eyes. Although I was too young to appreciate Ogogo's excellent acting, I knew he was a star, and perhaps the first movie star whose name I grew up knowing, alongside the late Baba Suwe (Babatunde Omidina), simply because I heard it so much it stuck.

Taiwo Hassan was born alongside his twin brother on October 31, 1959, in Ilaro, Ogun State, Nigeria. In a July 2026 appearance on the cooking and lifestyle show Stirring Stories by Simisola, he shared how his parents lost three sets of twins before he was born.

His foray into acting began when he was 15, in 1974, though it lasted only briefly. In his tribute, Ayomide Tayo wrote that Hassan was employed by the Lagos State Water Corporation as an auto mechanic and would spend 13 years there until an Ifa priest and theatre practitioner, Awo Ademola Fabunmi, approached him to join a theatre troupe alongside other members like Lalude, Abbey Lanre, and Adeolu Funminiyi.

Ogogo’s acting career began on stage, where his praise singing suited the sort of culturally rich performances theatre groups travelled across the country to deliver. But it was his evolution from stage to screen that brought him fame.

His breakthrough came in the 1996 classic ‘Owo Blow’, where he played a young man whose family’s difficulties forced him into crime. As a criminal, he adopted a code of never shedding blood, and although he eventually chose to walk away from that life, his past actions still caught up to him. Following the success of the movie, he repeatedly delivered spirited performances through the 2000s that made him the action star of Yoruba movies and a household name.

For the younger generation of viewers, Ogogo is one of the names that instantly comes to mind when the subject of famous Yoruba actors comes up. His influence was made vivid for a younger audience in 2016 by rapper Olamide Baddo, who documented Ogogo’s acting exploits on the track ‘Owo Blow’. Released as one of the lead singles of his 2016 album ‘The Glory,’ Olamide rapped “Alaye to se gogo, action po bi Ogogo,” a line paying homage to the defining performance Ogogo delivered two decades earlier. The song became a street anthem, with kids who grew up watching him take on roles of a great father, an honest cop, or a charismatic monarch singing his praises.

Ogogo’s collection of unforgettable performances delivered another major pop culture moment in 2022, when a clip of his lines took on new meaning among young Nigerians online. The line “Gbogbo wa la ma je breakfast. Asiko t’onikaluku ma je ti e, ototo ni,” which translates to “We will all have breakfast. The time each person has theirs varies,” was a general saying about life that got adopted to capture how everyone eventually gets heartbroken, with “breakfast” becoming an internet word for heartbreak.

In May 2022, Grammy-winning Nigerian star Burna Boy documented this trend in his hit single ‘Last Last’, released after his breakup with then-partner, rapper Stefflon Don. A few months later, in October, the Afro fusion star launched his cannabis brand, Brkfst, coined from Breakfast. Ogogo was never credited for it, but his movie performance inspired an internet trend, a hit song, and possibly a new product.

Another quality that captured Ogogo's stardom and relevance was his capacity to evolve gracefully and get with the times. He was an actor able to bring a touch of class and heartwarming performance to every role or appearance, whether it was featuring on a skit with popular comedian and actress Taoma or bantering with host Isbae U on his satirical show 'Curiocity Made Me Ask'.

The past decade has offered me an even better appreciation of Ogogo’s greatness, and it isn’t primarily from watching his stellar performance in Kunle Afolayan’s film and subsequent series ‘Anikulapo’, where he played "Alaafin Ademuyiwa". Nor is it from his brilliant cameo in Femi Adebayo’s Netflix series ‘Seven Doors’, where his poetic chants and eulogy as “Oni Rara Akoko” brought goosebumps.

My appreciation largely comes from watching the pair of Odunlade Adekola and Femi Adebayo dominate the Yoruba movie industry, and even the wider Nollywood, as leading men. Seeing how their faces went from selling out compact discs to selling out cinema tickets, and how they became two of the most powerful names in the industry, helps me appreciate what Ogogo was to a generation, how his performances shaped the archetype of the leading man in Yoruba movies, helped the industry scale commercially, and inspired a generation.

President Bola Tinubu, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwoolu and other national figures paid tribute to Ogogo. At his burial on August 24 in his hometown of Ilaro, Ogun State, hundreds of actors showed up to pay homage and bid him farewell. Peers present fought through tears while describing him as a great thespian and a fine gentleman. His daughters praised him for being an amazing father. Fans applauded him for his unforgettable performances.

With Ogogo, there was a consistency of greatness, both as an actor and as a person. The late maestro gave it all as an actor, producer, screenwriter, entertainer, praise singer, father, friend, and person. Perhaps this is the biggest lesson his career and life offer me: that as a professional and an individual, one must find one's calling and give it one's all.

Rest in peace, legendary actor Taiwo Ogogo Hassan. The Action King.