Jimmy Akingbola

Jimmy’s Theatre Credits include many appearances in repertory theatre at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Birmingham Rep, National Theatre, Soho Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, and Scarborough. Soon after graduating Jimmy played `Norm` in Lucy Baileys Baby Doll (2000) which starred Jonathan Cake and Charlotte Emerson which transferred from the Birmingham Rep to the National Theatre to Albery Theatre/West End. Also in September 2000 Jimmy played `Mahaparashwa` in Indhu Rubasinghams production of the Ramayana, which was compared to Brooks The Mahabharata and transferred to the National Theatre. The work did not stop there as Jimmy went on to play `Byron Williams` in John Mortimers Play Naked Justice starring Leslie Phillips at the West Yorkshire Playhouse/Tour. At the Edinburgh festival he appeared at the Traverse Theatre as `Marco` in the smash hit dark comedy People Next Door directed by Roxana Silbert. Winning two awards the Edinburgh Festival Hit & Fringe First Award it transfered to Stratford Theatre Royal East in September 2003. At the Birmingham Rep in December 2004 Jimmy played `Elvis` in the beautiful play Behzti which sadly got stopped by protests from the Sikh community. Although in February 2005 he bounced back and acted alongside Roger Lloyd Pack and Shaun Evans in Joe Penhalls award winning play Blue Orange which was directed by Kathy Burke. Where he received fantastic 4 star reviews for his exquisitely unpredictable performance as `Christopher`. Other Theatre Credits: `Herods Chief Guard` in Bill Alexander’s Production of Nativity at the Birmingham Rep, `Pete` in Lisa Goldman’s production of Playing Fields at the Soho Theatre, `Pedro` in Debra Yhip’s production of The Changeling at the National Theatre and various characters in Ready or Not Raw at Stratford Theatre Royal East. Television credits include the BBC1 sitcom The Crouches (series 1&2) by Ian Pattison where Jimmy played `Dennis` the dodgy businessman. Jimmy was given great reviews for this performance, which lead to him being nominated for a Bafta. Jimmy has also be appeared in a new comedy sketch show for CBBC called `Stupid`. To show he can do drama as well as comedy Jimmy played `Winston Silcott` in BBC2s Docu-Drama Who Killed PC Blakelock? Also he played `Solomon` from Caryl Phillips’ new book A Distant Shore on the South Bank Show. Two Episodes of John Sullivan’s Roger Roger directed by Tony Dow where he played `Dion`. Luke Kaliba in BBC1 Doctors and `Gary` in Slightly Filthy Show (Carlton TV) Film credits include Anansi (Avista Films) directed by Fritz Baumann, in which he stars as `Kojo` opposite Naomi Harris (28 Days Later, White Teeth) and `Dimples` in The Dimples Cry directed by Adrian Brown in which he stars with Curtis Walker. Radio is something Jimmy really enjoys which explains why he was one of the Carlton Hobbs winners in 1999. He has worked for the BBC World Service numerous times: `David` - Amen Corner, `Katanga`- A Noise In The Night , `Baba` – Clothes of Nakedness, `Babatunde` – Westway, `Andre` - Trinidad Sisters. BBC Radio 3 `Kwaku Ananse` – Fire Children. BBC4 `Elmo` – Dancing Backwards. BB C radio 7 `Mike` – I Met a Boy. 3yrs at the Academy of Live Recorded Arts(ALRA)Drama School from 1996-99 Music & Dance: (* = highly skilled) Aerobics Performance: Comedy, Musical Comedy, Voice Over Sports: (* = highly skilled) American Football*, Athletics*, Basketball*, Cricket*, Football*, Ice Skating*, Judo*, Martial Arts*, Skiing*, Stage Combat*, Tennis* Vehicle Licences: Car