Pete Edochie, the veteran actor, said he made his acting debut in 1962.

Speaking during an appearance on Isbae U’s Curiosity Made Me Ask, the Nollywood veteran said he first featured in a stage play titled ‘The Merchant of Venice’, which was produced 65 years ago.

“By the time I did Merchant of Venice in 1962, I was 15 years old. Then there was nothing like film. It was all stage,” he said.

“Except you have Shakespeare in your head, you don’t qualify to be on stage. Call any of them that you know that can handle Shakespeare; let that person challenge me. Let me hear them speak; who taught them?”

The 79-year-old actor further claimed that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), an American film and television production and distribution company, recognised him and one other actor as two of the continent’s major actors.

“MGM evaluated filming efforts on the continent of Africa, and they said they are only two people we recognise as actors,” he said.

“Peter Edochie and John Kani of South Africa… I did Things Fall Apart in 1985. Nollywood came on board in 1992 when they did Living in Bondage.

“I am the only man who did a film, and white people came in and came and interviewed me.”