Peter Odeke

Peter Odeke
Peter Odeke
Born	21 November 1970 (age 53); Kampala, Uganda
Occupation(s)	Actor, Radio presenter
Years active	2002–present

Odeke Peter Paul (born 21 November 1970) is a Ugandan film, voice and theatre actor, radio presenter and voice artist. He is not new to acting, having been exposed to stage drama in his primary and secondary schools; however, his first experience with the National Theatre came in the early 1990s with “SPECTRUM”, a contemporary dance-drama group that followed in the infamous style of the Namasagali College’s productions.

Early life and education

Peter was born in Kampala, Uganda and is of Teso descent, and is the fourth of six children and his family has been living in Uganda. Peter was widely exposed to extra-curricular activities while at Kitante Primary School and was quite active in Athletics and Drama. This verve continued into his secondary school years at St. Mary’s College Kisubi, where he became renowned for his Robotic moves and Breakdancing skills. During his A-Levels at Kigezi High School, Peter hilariously acted out a comic skit as a News Reader. Little did he know that he would one day become a celebrated Prime-Time News Anchor.

Immediately after completing his BA (Political Science), Peter applied for a job with the country’s first private Television Station, Sanyu TV, and was taken on as a News Anchor.

He retained News reading part-time after joining regional start-up, South African Alliance Air as a Flight Attendant, rising to become Purser within 3 years. SA Alliance Air’s operations came to a dramatic halt in 2000.

Career

Stage

Peter’s first experience with the National Theatre came in the early 1990s with a contemporary dance-drama group “SPECTRUM”. He acted as Teezi in the group’s most successful production “Unleashed Fury,” before taking a sojourn because of his University study.

Television

Peter made his debut into Television drama in 2002 with the highly acclaimed “Centre 4,” a thirteen (13) episode health TV drama where he played a lead role as Moses Wema– the mysterious and hunky Laboratory technician.

Radio drama

He has also ventured into radio drama in two BBC African radio plays: Kitu Kidogo (by Kenneth Atwiine) & Damn Seconds (by Pamela Otali).

Film

In 2004, Peter landed his first movie role in Raoul Peck's HBO movie, Sometimes in April, featuring Idris Elba.

Back in Kampala, Peter re-enacted Denis Obua in Dan Gordon's BBC docu-drama: The John Akii-Bua Story; An African Tragedy (2008). In 2010, Peter joined renowned Ugandan Director Matt Bish for a supporting role in his award-winning movie “S.R.B” (2010) as Julius Dracu.

Peter's most recent project is in the Walt Disney Pictures production, Queen of Katwe, starring Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo. Peter plays “Mr. Barumba”, the chair-person of the Chess Federation in Uganda. This movie comes out in September 2016.^[1]^[2]

Personal life

Odeke has three boys: Nkosi, Kwame and Diallo. He has been married to Christine Elong since 30 November 2007.

Peter currently works in the Protocol unit of the Parliament of Uganda.

Performances

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
2005	Sometimes in April	Militia Man #2	Raoul Peck	TV movie
2007	Ezra	Snake Savimbi	Newton I. Aduaka	Feature film
2007	Shake Hands with the Devil	Ghanaian Lieutenant	Roger Spottiswoode	Feature film
2008	The John Akii Bua Story: An African Tragedy	Denis Obua	Daniel Gordon	Documentary
2010	State Research Bureau	Julius Dracu	Matt Bish	Feature film
2016	Queen of Katwe	Enoch Barumba	Mira Nair	Feature
2022	Kafa Coh	Tereke Stephens	Gilbert K. Lukalia	Feature

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Kitu Kidogo
2012	Damn Seconds

References

^ Desta, Yohana. "TIFF 2016: Magnificent Seven, Loving, and More Announced for Festival Lineup". HWD. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
^ "'Queen of Katwe' Ugandan premiere set for October 1 – theinsider.ug". Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.

External links

[1] Desta, Yohana. "TIFF 2016: Magnificent Seven, Loving, and More Announced for Festival Lineup". HWD. Retrieved 15 October 2016.

[2] "'Queen of Katwe' Ugandan premiere set for October 1 – theinsider.ug". Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.

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