HEADLINES DOWN THE YEARS…
- We rented flat for Lari Williams with Apostle Suleman’s N2m donation
- Veteran Nollywood Actor Lari Williams Begs for Help
- “Help! I Am Homeless”, Lari Williams Cries Out
- I’m going blind, homeless – Lari Williams
- Poet, actor, Lari Williams, dies at 81
Eventually, the bright shining star has dimmed! An expected end… nonetheless foretold…and extendable.
But such is the impunity of necessities and adversities in Nigeria that we walk on, seeking our own possibilities as others thrash around and whine in hapless survival miscontrol.
Now, the great thespian, Larry Williams, is dead! He lived to a good old age, if not well, and in splendour. Yet, he could have stayed with us a few more years.
Here’s our tribute, in Reflections, to the times and lines of the Lagos man who died in Ikom, Calabar, teaching the much younger generations the true arts of the theatre:
“Between 1982 and 1983, if our memory stays strong, some restless young folks, including Muyiwa Kayode, Wale Obadeyi (late) and yours truly (not now sure if Francis Onwochei was with us) were often at one of the small 200+-seater cinema halls of the National Arts Theatre, slugging it out on stage, learning movements, dance and elocution under the feet of master thespian, percussionist, director, journalist, lecturer, playwright, poet, and more – Lari Williams, MFR. (He never confirmed if Lari was from Ọmọlari!)
Since he was lured back from England by the aroma of FESTAC 77, which he partook actively, Williams has stayed back to nurture and build a thriving theatre tradition and screen presence. He was the founding president of Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN. Ever chasing after dexterity and fluidity in performance, Williams has been shuttling effectively around diverse genres of the African performing arts, with finesse.
His plays include the highlight of his England sojourn, Kolanut Junction (which premièred in 1971 at the London Continental Hall with a cast of Olu Jacobs, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, and poet-sculptor, Taiwo Jegede); then Awero, Black Current, Storm Baby, Heartlines, and Drumcall for Herod.
A veteran of several Nollywood productions, Williams had a robust pre-Nollywood romance with TV serials and soaps: Village Headmaster, Mirror In The Sun, Ripples, For Better For Worse, Supple Blues, SPACS, amongst about 17 programmes on NTA channels alone.
In November 2018, the industry swarmed around him to mark the 50th anniversary of his romance with the creative essence. Though battling with ill health and other challenges of existence, Lari Williams is still with us at 82 (in 2021).”
(Circa June, 2021)
Let the drums roll…in obeisance to Baba’s prancing goose-steps…on this last trip…to Nirvana. Adieu, Lari Williams, MFR.
**Akintunde-Johnson, author and veteran journalist, first published this on his Facebook page
