Benjamin Onyango From a slum in Nairobi Kenya to Hollywood superstar actor
Benjamin Onyango From a slum in Nairobi Kenya to Hollywood superstar actor
Benjamin Alfred Onyango Ochieng, is a Kenyan-American actor, particularly active in Hollywood film industry. He is best known for the roles in the films Tears of the Sun, God's Not Dead and Beautifully Broken.[1]
Personal life
He was born in Ofafa Jericho Estate in Eastlands, Nairobi, Kenya, as the second child in a family of seven brothers.[2] His father was Christopher Ochieng and mother was Eudiah Achieng Ochieng. Benjamin started his primary education in Ofafa Jericho Primary School then Ofafa Jericho Secondary School. When Benjamin turned 18, he was hired by his dad at British American Tobacco Kenya Ltd (BAT) and later he was moved to a clerk position in the Wages Department where he worked for 4 years. Then he was transferred to computer department and worked for two years.[3]
He later joined United States International University (USIU) to study Management Information Systems (MIT). For further studies, Benjamin moved to the USIU, San Diego in the USA.[4] From there, he was transferred to California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, California. Then in 1992, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science.[3]
Career
After graduation, he relocated to Hollywood, California, where he further studied music and acting. He worked with Funk Rock band 'P.F.O.' for few years later decided to be a professional actor. With this thought, he started to appear in many feature films and popular American television serials such as General Hospital, The Shield and The X-files in 1999.[3] Meanwhile, he starred in The God’s Not Dead Trilogy franchise as well as Tears of the Sun, Heavenly Deposit, Beautifully Broken, Father Africa, The Boy, Road to Redemption, Default, Kwame, Chains, Thunder Chance, The Disciple, American Crude and The Terminal.[4]
He also became a voice actor and rendered his voice to the films and television serials including; Last Face, Furious 7, Constantine, Night At the Museum I & III, Machine Gun Preacher, Inception, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Primeval, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Path to 911, Mighty Joe Young and E-ring.[4][3]
Apart from acting, he is also a writer with popular writing credits include: The Wives (TV series); Dysfunctionally Organized (Web Series); Mind Tricks and Curse of Devil’s Mountain (Shorts), Cheza and Original Man (Films).[4][3]
Filmography
Year Film Role Genre Ref.
1999 The X-Files Second African Man TV series
2003 Tears of the Sun Colonel Emanuel Okeze Film
2004 The Terminal African Man with Wife and Child Film
2005 The Shield Store Clerk TV series
2006 General Hospital Father TV series
2007 The Anatolian Security Officer Film
2008 The Disciple Doctor Film
2008 American Crude Toomy Film
2008 Kwame Kwame Opoku Short film
2009 Chains Buhle Short film
2009 Resident Evil 5 Majini Video game
2010 Thunder Chance General Short film
2010 Mind Tricks Joe Manning Short film
2011 Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D Majini Film
2011 Curse of Devil's Mountain Mr. Dean Short film
2011 Bosco's Guitar Radio Announcer & Male Attackers (voice) Short film
2012 Chapter One Mao Aka Bendrix Short film
2013 MISSInformed Father Short film
2013 Trusts and Estates Waiter Documentary short
2014 God's Not Dead Reverend Jude Film
2014 Default Edward Film
2014 Hollywood Street Salem Film
2015 The Boy The Healer Short film
2015 The Other Tribes Onyango Film
2015 The Black Pot Guest TV series
2016 Madame Esmeralda and the Audition Benvolio Film
2016 God's Not Dead 2 Reverend Jude Film
2016 Dysfunctionally Organized Street Preacher TV series
2016 Road to Redemption Tribal Councilman 2 Film
2017 Oscar Samuel Braxton Film
2017 Father Africa Dr. Haki Film
2018 God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness Reverend Jude Film
2018 Beautifully Broken William Mwizerwa Film
2018 A Minor Variation Figs Short film
2019 Godforsaken Ezekiel Film
2019 Freshman Year Chukwumah Film
2019 Heavenly Deposit Nigel Film
2019 The Wives Otieno TV series
2021 God's Not Dead: We The People Reverend Jude Film [5]
TBD My Friend James Ellis Film
See also
List of Black Sails characters
References
"BENJAMIN A. ONYANGO: ACTOR". MUBI. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
"Kenyan Hollywood actor Benjamin Onyango in town". Nation Media Group. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
"Benjamin "Benji" Onyango: One on One with God's Not Dead Star". Medium. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
"Benjamin Onyango". Boxed The Film. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
Harper, Jennifer (2021-08-12). "Inspirational film explores challenges of homeschooling, the battle for 'our children's intellect'". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭/ 𝐓𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐀𝐩𝐩 $𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚
𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
kabambemuzik@gmail.com or mkenyamarekanitv@gmail.com
#MkenyaMarekani #KenyansInAmerica #BenjaminOnyango
