Obituary: Ada Ameh's comic career saved lives

The actress, had reportedly slumped at an event in Delta state, just days after sharing with fans that she was being sued for bailing on a paid job due to her mental health struggles.

With over two decades of an active acting career, Ameh's loss is a crushing blow for not just her loved ones but millions of fans who loved and followed her online and onscreen.

Ameh's 27-year acting career span stage, film and notably television. The multilingual thespian broke into Nollywood playing the character Anita in Zeb Ejiro's 1995 classic Domitila.

After the widely successful film, Ameh starred in over two dozen titles and soon became a household name as a typecast comically vexatious character in comedy productions.

Having no formal acting education did very little to deter the actress. During the era of comedy titles centered on acting duo Aki (Chinedu Ikedieze) and Pawpaw (Osita Iheme), Ameh must have starred in no less than 20 titles where she played a detested love interest of the onscreen twin's duo or a troublesome wife.

After what seemed like the end of that era of comedy with co-stars Nkem Owoh, John Okafor a.k.a Mr Ibu, Victor Osuagwu, and a brief hiatus, the actress returned to the screens as Emu Johnson in Rogers Ofime's The Johnsons.

On the show which premiered in 2012, Ameh looked visibly different, losing over half of her former weight. As the onscreen family's matriarch, the actress continued to play the impregnable yet comical character that fans had grown to adore over the years. Ameh played the adored character until her shocking demise.

When not filming The Johnsons, the actress worked on top budget titles including Blue Pictures' production debut title Gone and EbonyLife films' Oloture.

Despite battling with grief and its many demons, Ameh heartily shared with the world an onscreen personality that's saved many lives through its comic elements. The actress will be remembered as one of the pioneers of eras of Nollywood, making a successful transition from one to the other.