Albert Egbe


Albert Egbe is a Nigerian actor known for his roles as Mr. B. in Basi and Company, and T.C. in The Thrift Collector. He was an elected executive member of the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers Congress in 2006. After, Basi & co, he later built a career in entertainment by producing short films and television movies, many of which are adaptations of literary works by Nigerian writers.

Life

Egbe was born in Warri, Delta State to parents of Itsekiri ancestry. He attended St Gregory's College, Lagos, and from 1961 to 1965 he studied Latin at the University of Ibadan where he met Ken Saro Wiwa in Ibadan; both were members of a traveling theatre group at university and participated in drama productions on campus. After graduation, Egbe worked as an administration officer with the Nigerian Federal Government, remaining in that position for a few years before changing his career. He took Accounting courses in London, and upon returning home he worked as an accountant with Deloitte and later Michelin Nigeria. He dabbled in managing a small business, but soon quit to pursue acting. His major role was the title character in Basi and Company, portraying a poor man living in the city and planning schemes to make easy money. Prior to Basi, he was a cast member in the television series The New Masquerade.
After Basi and Company, Egbe produced the television series Jagua Nana's Daughter based on the Cyprian Ekwensi novel, and other literary adaptations including Rasheed Gbadamosi's The Tree Grows in the Desert and Ola Rotimi's Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again. In 1996, Egbe starred as TC in the Unicef production The Thift Collector.
From 1999 to 2003, Egbe was managing the Independent Television Producers Association of Nigeria's training school in Lagos. He was screenwriter on M-Net's Twins of the Rain Forest. He is currently planning to produce a film on Nana Olomu of Itsekiri.