Veteran Nollywood Actor Francis Duru Dies at 57 After Brief Illness

Nollywood has been thrown into mourning following the death of veteran actor Francis Duru after a brief illness, days after he publicly dismissed a viral video portraying him as seriously ill.

His family announced his death in a statement posted on his official Instagram page, saying, “We, the family of Francis Duru, regret to announce his passing following a brief illness. We appreciate your prayers, love and understanding. May his soul rest in perfect peace. Amen.”

The National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Abubakar Yakubu, also mourned the actor in a post, describing him as a talented performer and announcing that the guild had lost one of its own. Duru had recently released a video debunking circulating footage that depicted him in an unhealthy state, describing it as the handiwork of “merchants of darkness and evil” who were portraying him in a condition he said he was not in.

Born in Cameroon to Nigerian parents from Imo State, Duru completed his early education there before proceeding to the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts in 1996. He made his film debut in ‘Missing Mark’ in 1989, in a production directed by the late Ndubuisi Oko, before gaining wider recognition for his performance in ‘Rattlesnake’.

Beyond acting, Duru served as interim president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria in 2010 and was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Africa Movie Academy Awards that year. His death marks the loss of a familiar face in Nigeria’s film industry, where he built a career spanning decades.