Funke Akindele is a famous and outstanding Nollywood actress. She came into the spotlight as the main character of the popular TV series ” Jenifa’s Diary”.
Funke Akindele is a philanthropist and brings laughter to the homes of many Nigerian families.
Funke is a social media influencer and earns money via the number of views, likes and followers. In this article we will let you into the facts about her biography, career, net worth and many more.
Funke Akindele Profile
- Full Name: Akindele Olufunke Ayotunde
- Age: 43 years old
- Nationality: Nigerian
- State of Origin: Lagos
- State of residence: Lagos
- Marital status: Married
- Occupation: Nollywood actress, film producer, an ambassador and a philanthropist.
Funke Akindele Age
Funke was born on the 24th of August 1977, in Ikorodu, Lagos State in the western region of Nigeria. She is the second child of the family of five (father, mother and three children).
Funke’s mother is a Medical Doctor by profession and her father is a retired School Principal.
Funke Akindele Education
Funke completed her primary and secondary education at Lagos, where she obtained her First School Leaving Certificate and Senior Secondary Examination Certificate respectively.
Funke after her higher education, furthered he tertiary education at former Ogun State Polytechnic, now known as Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. She graduated with an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Mass Communications.
Funke Akindele Career
Funke started out her acting career in a sitcom “I Need To Know” in 1998. This sitcom was sponsored by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
She starred as Bisi, a character which was highly intelligent secondary school student but with a flaw of curiosity. The sitcom ended in 2002.
In 2008, Funke starred in one of Nigeria’s popular movie “Jenifa’s Diary”. Her role as the lead character was the major break she needed in her career at the movie industry.
In 2016, the movie “Jenifa’s Dairy” grew into a TV series.
Apart from Funke, other celebrities joined the TV series such as; Fisayo Ajisola, Falz, Juliana Olayode, and Aderounmu Adejumoke.
What’s a celebrity life without controversies? Funke was involved in one on January of 2018. Her name appeared in the cast list at on IMDb in Infinity War.
It was reported by Mainstream Nigerian press that Funke was selected to play a role in Infinity War as the guard Dora Milaje, according to IMDb.
Unfortunately few weeks later her name was removed from the cast and substituted with another Nollywood actress Genevieve Nnaji.
However month later, it was reported that the Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly, Dr. Bukola Saraki advised Marvel Studios to star Funke in Infinity War.
In 2018, Funke Akindele starred in the popular comedy movie “Moms at War” together with Michelle Dede.
In the month of July, 2019 Funke created a new web series titled “Aiyetoro Town”. This series is a sequel of her popular TV series “Jenifa’s Dairy”.
Apart from being an actress, she is also a movie producer and the CEO of Scene One Film Production. Funke has created her first directorial appearance in 2019 political drama movie titled “Your Excellency”.
Asides acting and producing films, Funke is a philanthropist who channels her energy into her NGO called “Jenifa Foundation”. This NGO mission is to equipped young people with relevant vocational skills.
Funke is an ambassador who has many endorsement deals with brands such as; Dettol, Irokotv, Keystone bank and a detergent/soap company known as WAW.
Funke Akindele had another controversy which spiked up due to the violation of the law on social gathering in Aprirl, 2020.
She hosted a house party for her husband’s birthday with people I’m attendance during the lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic.
This act fuel agitations amongst her fans and the government which led to her arrest and penalty of 14-days community service.
However, after the incident Funke worked in hand with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control video to create awareness about the virus coronavirus( a.k.a COVID-19).
In addition to this, she also rendered an apology to her fans, family, well wishers and the public on her behavior. She was forgiven and things went back to stability.
Funke Akindele Relationship
Funke was married on the 26th of May, 2012 to Adeola Kehinde Oloyede. Sadly, she got a divorced in July 2013, due to insufficient compatibility factor.
Funke got married again at London in May, 2016 to Abdul-Rasheed Bello (Nigerian rapper) popularly known as JJC Skillz. Their union is blessed with twin set of boys in December 2018.
Funke Akindele Achievement
Funke has received many awards for her outstanding talent in the Nigerian movie industry, such awards include; the 2009 Africa Movie Academy Award for the Best Actress Leading Role.
- In 2009, she also won the 2009 Nigeria Entertainment Awards for the Best Actress in the movie “Jenifa”.
- In 2012, Funke won the 2012 Nigeria Entertainment Awards for Best Actress in the movie “Troj” and Nollywood Movies Awards for Best Actress (Indigenous) in the movie “Emi Abata”. Addition to her 2012 awards, she also won the Zulu African Film Academy Awards for Best Actress in the movie “Maami and The Return of Jenifa”.
- In 2013, Funke was nominated for the 2013 Nollywood Movies Awards for the prize of Best Actress (Leading Role) in the movie “Maami”. However she emerged as the winner of Best Actress (Indigenous) in the same event.
- In 2014, Funke received the 2014 Nigeria Entertainment Awards for Best Actress (Leading Role) in the movie “Agnetta O’Mpa”.
- In the same year she emerged as the winner of the 2014 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best Actress (Comedy) in the movie “The Return of Sheri Koko”
In 2014, she also won the ELOY Awards for Brand Ambassador of the Year for the detergent company “Omo”. - In 2016, Funke won the Naija FM Awards for Sitcom Of The Year and Best Actress in Comedy in the TV series “Jenifa’s Dairy”.
- In the same year, she emerged as the winner of 2016 Ghana Movies Awards for Best Actress Africa Collaboration in the movie “A Trip to Jamaica “.
- In 2017, Funke won the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best TV Series and Best Actress in a Comedy Movie/TV Series in her iconic TV series “Jenifa’s Diary”.
- In addition to her awards in 2017, she won the 2017 Nigeria Entertainment Awards for Best Lead Actress in the movie “A Trip to Jamaica”.
- In 2020, Funke Akindele 2020 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or TV Series.
Funke Akindele Net Worth
Funke has an estimated net worth of $3.5 million.
