Obba Babatundé Birthday & Fun Facts

Obba Babatundé Birthday Highlights

Birth Name

Donald Cohen

Place Of Birth

Jamaica, USA

Age

72 years old

Birth Date

November 30 1951

Obba Babatundé Facts

Child Star?

no

Occupation

Actor

Education & Qualifications

Jamaica High School

Net Worth

$5,000,000

Children

Antar Tarak Babatundé

Siblings

Akin Babatunde

Obba Babatundé is a well-known American actor who has been in theater, television, and feature films.

He started playing in modest settings and worked his way up to Off-Off-Broadway, then Off-Broadway, and finally Broadway. He began to acquire TV and cinema opportunities as his career flourished.

Obba Babatundé has participated in several well-known works. He is an American citizen. He has almost 200 roles on his resume, but he is best recognized for his role as Willie Long in the 1999 crime comedic film, 'Life'. The film was nominated for seven awards, along with an Oscar Award for The Best Make-up, and won one of them.

What is Obba Babatundé’s net worth?

Obba Babatundé's net income was projected to be between $1-10 million as of 2021.

How much does Obba Babatundé earn per year?

The annual income of Obba Babatundé is being investigated.

How tall is Obba Babatundé?

Obba Babatundé is 5 ft 8 in (174 cm) tall. He is an actor from America.

How old is Obba Babatundé?

As of 2021, Obba is 70 years old.

Obba Babatundé was birthed as Donald Cohen in Jamaica, Queens Borough, New York, United States, on December 1, 1951. Obba grew up in the United States. His brother, Akin Babatundé, is a well-known actor, filmmaker, and writer. At a young age, he showed an interest in the performing arts. From an early age, he was fascinated by acting, dancing, and singing, and he soon started playing musical instruments. By the age of 14, he could play 10 different brass instruments.

Obba was an all-rounded scholar at Jamaica High School, wherein he was a student assistant and a part of the track and cross country groups in addition to performing in the school musical program, Sing '68. He began educating in a private school for pupils of color after graduation from Jamaica High School in 1969. In New York, he also chased acting jobs, landing various Off-Off-Broadway parts.

Who is Obba Babatundé’s partner?

Obba hasn't said much about his wife, although she's a philanthropist and a previous nurse, according to reports. Obba and his wife desire to maintain their boys away from the public eye and have two kids together, one of them is Antar Tarak Babatundé.

Best Known For…

Since Obba Babatundé was only 18 years old, he began his career as an actor, producer, director, and singer. In a matter of time, Obba became very successful in the field of acting, influencing others through his career and gaining a great deal of popularity. After joining the touring production of the show 'Guys And Dolls', he rose to prominence in 1976. He has since been in several additional theater shows. Babatundé had his Broadway start in a 1978 production in 'Timbuktu!', and his performance of C.C. White in a 1982 production of 'Dreamgirls' earned him a Tony Award nomination.

Obba played various small parts, including an orange seller, a Timbuktu resident, an antelope, and the chabaka. Soon after, he decided to concentrate his efforts on pursuing a career in cinema and television. In 1988, he appeared in the West End production of 'King'. He made an appearance at the world premiere for 'Jelly's Last Jam' three years later.

In the Broadway production of the musical 'Chicago', he replaced the part, Billy Flynn, in 1998. The next year, he visited the United States with the restored 'Chicago' production as Billy Flynn. In 2006, he played this part again at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, in 2008 at the Shubert Theatre, and in 2010 at the Ambassador Theatre (all in New York).

His first television performance was on the anthology show 'America's Musical Theater', while he made his feature film debut in the spy comedy 'Leonard Part 6' (1987). Babatundé went on to star in segments of 'Tales From The Crypt' (1992), 'A Different World' (1990), 'Matlock' (1988), 'All My Children' (1987), and also films such as 'Married To The Mob', 'The Silence Of The Lambs', 'Miami Blues', and 'Dead Again'. In the television movie, 'The Temptations', he played Berry Gordy, Jr. 1998.

In various Star Wars computer games, the velvet-voiced performer has had the opportunity to voice numerous animated characters, such as the infamous Lando Calrissian. 'That Thing You Do!' (1996), 'The Wild Thornberrys Movie' (2002), 'John Q' (2002), 'The Manchurian Candidate' (2004), 'The Notebook' (2004), 'Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!' (2004), and 'Pup Star' (2016), as well as episodes of 'Rocket Power' and 'Max Steel' (2000), showcase his work.

In 2009, Obba Babatundé starred in 'Sammy' as Sammy Davis Jr. at The Old Globe Theater. He played Sergeant Vernon C. Waters for 'A Soldiers Play' the following year. In 2017, he returned to the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center to reprise his role as Nomax for 'Five Guys Named Moe'. He returned as Billy Flynn for 'Chicago' in early 2020. He voiced the character of Principal Howard Green in a few episodes of 'Dawson's Creek' and was the recurring cast in 21 episodes of 'Rocket Power'.

Obba Babatundé has worked on some films, television series, and documentaries as a producer, director, executive producer, and screenwriter. Obba also acted in a few of them. Few of his projects are 'Oscar’s Black Odyssey: From Hatte To Halle', 'Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty', 'Go Beyond The Lens', 'TV In Black: The First 50 Years', 'Dolls Of Voodoo', 'Angels Around Me', 'American Bad Boy', ‘Clarissa's Gift', 'The Fallen Faithful', 'Speculo', and 'If I Tell You I Have To Kill You'. Babatundé is the producer of 'Oscar's Black Odyssey', 'Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty', as well as 'TV in Black: The First 50 Years', among other documentaries.

Obba Babatundé is a multi-talented performer who has worked as an actor, writer, singer, director, dancer, and producer. Obba Babatundé is among Hollywood's busiest performers, mixing roles in cinema, television, and theater. While constantly playing as the father of UPN, Babatundé also participated in Paramount Pictures' 'The Manchurian Candidate' and the highly acclaimed movie 'The Notebook'. However, he is most known for playing C. C. White in 'Dreamgirls', by which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1982.

Charity Work

Obba Babatundé volunteers for a variety of charities, particularly animal rights groups as well as the World Literacy Crusade, while he is not working.

What awards has Obba Babatundé won?

In 2010, Obba Babatundé won the NAACP Theater Award for Best Lead Male for his performance as Sammy Davis Jr. in the play 'Sammy'. For his depiction of the protagonist role in 'A Soldiers Play', he earned the NAACP Image Award in 2011. For the show 'The Bold And The Beautiful', he made the Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series in 2016. For 'Miss Evers' Boys', Obba received a Primetime Emmy nomination in 1997 as Outstanding Supporting Actor for a Miniseries or a Special.

Obba Babatundé’s Hobbies And Interests

Obba Babatundé likes giving his show-business lecture at institutions around the country when it comes to his mentorship program. Obba is a significant admirer of soul, jazz, and blues music and has sung in a number of tracks on the Onaje Allan Gumbs' record 'Sack Full of Dreams'. His favorite artist is the late Aretha Franklin, and he has performed in a handful of tracks on the Onaje Allan Gumbs' album 'Sack Full Of Dreams'.

• Obba's kid, father, grandpa, and great-grandfather are all born on the same day.
• After learning about his Nigerian origins, he changed his title from Donald Cohen to Obba Babatundé. Obba signifies king in Yoruba, a Nigerian language, while Babatundé implies father has returned again.
• Obba is relatively popular on Instagram, and he appears to appreciate the attention he receives from his more than 10,000 fans; he has shared about 87 photos (as of June 2022), most of which were taken during his daily life. His Instagram account is @obbababatunde, and his Twitter handle is @ObbaBabatunde.
• Obba Babatundé has acted in over 17 stage shows, 60 made-for-television films, 30 theatrical films, and two prime-time tv shows as of 2021.
• Obba is a cherished role model for performers and entertainers of all ages and is sometimes described as a living legend.
• Obba Babatunde has singing credits for the song 'The Gal That Got Away'.

Editorial credit: Eugene Powers / Shutterstock.com