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Clarion Chukwurah |
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Meanwhile, one issue
that has refused to go
away is her liaison with
Afro-Juju creator, Shina
Peters, which produced a
child they named
Clarence. A lot has been
written about the
romance and the state of
things between Sir Shina
Peters and the actress.
Nevertheless, she said,
"Shina Peters is my
friend and will remain
so. The fact is, what
people don’t understand
is the public
presentation of Shina
and I is different from
the kind of relationship
that exists between us.
"My son is the greatest
thing that has ever
happened to me; for
Shina to give me
Clarence, Shina Peters
will always be my
friend," declared the
beauty who played four
different roles in the
stage adaptation of
Chinua Achebe’s Things
Fall Apart, at the Royal
Court Theatre, East
London back in 1997.
However, for all she has
put into the art of
interpreting scripts be
it on stage or screen,
she declared that "I’m
not a rich person but
comfortable."
Really, since her
sterling performance in
Money Power in the early
1980s, she has never
looked back. She is one
of the few stage actors
who successfully crossed
over and became instant
stars at the advent of
the home video industry
in the country.
Before then, she had
become a household name
with television viewers
when the Nigerian
Television Authority (NTA)
was very popular with
television soaps. Many
such fans still recall
her role as Tinu in the
rested television drama,
Mirror In The Sun, with
fondness.
Many years after, her
face is still as popular
with Nollywood movie
buffs as with their
Yoruba sector
counterparts. She traced
her staying power to
talent, training and
dedication to her
calling. She also added
that she has been able
to remain attractive and
radiant because her
training impressed the
need to take care of her
body mind and soul on
her.
"I don’t know what
obtains today in acting
training schools, but in
my time, training
included physicals among
others; so as a
professional I don’t
neglect taking good care
of my body. Perhaps that
explains my looks," she
said.
She named her role as
Princess Efuru in Egg of
Life as perhaps her most
challenging movie role
and said she is not
ready to fizzle out of
the acting world. "I
will continue to act for
as long as God gives me
the grace,"
There is no doubting the
fact that she will
continue to remain a
face to reckon with in
the movie industry.
Clarion Chukwurah requires little or no
introduction. For close to three decades
she has continued to rank among the
leading thespians in the land.
The graceful, gifted actress’ continued
relevance in the industry has been
traced to talent, training, discipline
and dedication to the calling that has
brought her fame and fortune.
Her acting talents, training and
dedication came to the fore in her
translation of the role of King Omajuwa
in Fred Agbeyegbe’s The King Must Dance
Naked.
"I rehearsed for three months by
screaming against the waves at the shore
of the sea in Badagry Beach. That wasn’t
all; I had to take wine, honey and
bitter kola so as to make my voice sound
husky like that of a man that I was
playing," she recalled.
The character King Omajuwa is, in truth,
a woman, but deceives her people for so
long by telling them that she is a man
until the bubble bursts.
Tough as interpreting the role may have
been for her, it is interesting that
that was not her first challenging
performance on stage. Clarion, who as a
young belle, fell for the charms of a
young Juju musician Shina Peters on the
set of one of the early Nigerian films
shot on celuloid titled Money Power
said: "The role of King Omajuwa would
rank as my second most challenging role
on stage."
According to her, "My foremost was
playing the character of Moji in Wole
Soyinka’s Camwood on the Leaves. Those
who have been on stage would tell you
what it takes to do so commendably; much
more in a Wole Soyinka play."
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