Like Joke Silva, should more wives stick to their father’s name while on stage?
After getting married to Olu Jacobs in 1985 when she was only 24 years old, Joke Silva had been told by her husband that it was best to maintain her father’s name because she had already built a strong profile around it.
Every once in a while, this question gets revisited – are the brides entering marriages mandated to bear their husband’s name or stick to what the world knew them as while being a maiden? The sexagenarian actress Joke Silva has indicated that it is all about context as she looks back at encouragement from her husband since the mid-eighties.
This conversation about what is right or not happened on the Leadership Podcast with Stephen Akintayo. It is a platform that says it wants to offer insightful engagements with change makers, and that is what a recent episode with the actress Silva thought it had achieved.
After getting married to Olu Jacobs in 1985 when she was only 24 years old, Joke Silva had been told by her husband that it was best to maintain her father’s name because she had already built a strong profile around it.
Changing her acting name because of her marriage could have derailed Silva’s progress, but in the end, everything worked out for the good.
ALSO READ: Remember this Olu Jacobs from the British late 60s drama The Crezz is still alive
He (Jacobs) was the one who advised that [I not] change my name. According to the 64-year-old, who is believed to be 20 years younger than her husband, this was because he understood the importance of branding.
Joke Silva, who has starred opposite Colin Firth and Nia Long in the British-Canadian film The Secret Laughter of Women (1998), had told the podcast of her husband that he said my brand had started building before we met, and changing the brand could cause problems for me.
We kept the name Joke Silva as the brand, and within the circle, there was nobody who did not know I was Mrs. Jacobs.
And there was the issue of the massive age gap between the actress and her husband, which made her father, the now deceased Chief Emmanuel Afolabi Silva to initially resist the effort being made to marry his daughter, but ultimately that heart eventually softened and has blossomed into a union that is still living a decade since the passing.
Deep affection from the future bride and close support from her mother, who had witnessed a similar marriage with a wide age difference once occurring between her parents. I was in love with him. As simple as that. And he was such a very gorgeous person.
I remember one of my sisters telling me in 1984 when I came to Nigeria with him [Olu Jacobs] and they met, she called me aside and said, ‘Joke, this is the man to take to daddy.’
Initially, my dad had issues with the fact that he [Olu Jacobs] was older, but my mum was like, well, this is the person they know me with, and then her parents had that kind of age gap as well. So, she agreed for us to get married.
Are there other examples of Nollywood couples who bear separate names because of their acting career? Another couple that exemplifies this trend is Adesua Etomi and Banky W.
While their love story blossomed on the set of The Wedding Party, Adesua has continued to use her maiden name in her acting career, preserving the identity she built before their union.
Similarly, heading farther back, Osas Ighodaro and Gbenro Ajibade, who tied the knot after meeting on the set of Tinsel, have maintained their names in their professional lives. This choice allows them to navigate their careers independently while celebrating their partnership.
These examples highlight a broader conversation about identity, branding, and the evolving dynamics of marriage in the entertainment industry. For many actors, the decision to retain their maiden names is not just about personal preference but also about preserving the professional legacy they have worked hard to establish.
As Nollywood continues to grow and evolve, the stories of these couples serve as a testament to the industry’s diversity and the importance of individuality within partnerships.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
