The Story of Nollywood Legend Sam Loco Efe…

When he was in primary school, he lost his father and had to support his mother in her business, which caused him to spend an extended period of time in primary school before graduating…

He started acting while still in school when a theater group came to perform a play called “The Doctor In Spite of Himself”, after which he discussed theater and performing arts with members of the group.
In primary school he was a member of several groups, including a drama group that performed a rendition of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at an Eastern Regional Arts Festival in Abakaliki. The play came last in the drama competition, but Efe was noted as the best actor which earned him a scholarship to finish primary school.
After completing primary school, he attended several secondary schools and was active in the drama club, staging a performance of The Doctor in Spite of Himself and a play called Vendetta.
After high school, he was part of a traveling theater group and played football, earning the name Locomotive, later shortened to Locomotive. This is how his name Loco came about.
During the Biafran Genocidal War, Efe fought on the side of Biafra until he returned to Benin in 1968.

He saw himself first and foremost as an Igbo man and a Biafran.
While in Benin in the 1960s, he founded the Ovonranwen Theater Group with its debut production being Ogierhiakhi’s Obaiwape.
However, his earnings from acting were meager and he subsequently traveled to Lagos to seek better career opportunities and explore a career in football.

He got his first job in 1972 at Michelin Tires. He applied for the position without knowing how to drive, which was a requirement for the job.
He learned to drive a day before the interview. During the interview, he passed the oral interview and failed the driving test, but honesty about his error in judgment won over the interviewer.

He worked for Michelin selling tires in Lagos, Ijebu Ode and Abeokuta but left Michelin to work for Dunlop Tires as a Senior Sales Representative in the Tires and Allied products division.
While working for Dunlop in Benin, he was a cast member of NTA Benin’s television series Hotel de Jordan and also appeared in a rendition of Ola Rotimi’s The Gods are Not to Blame.

In 1977 he left sales for a career in theater. He auditioned and got the lead role of Langbodo, a play by Dapo Adelugba presented during FESTAC.
After the end of Festac, Adelugba introduced him to a friend of his at the University of Ibadan about opportunities in theater. Adelugba’s friend managed to get Efe a job as a senior artist at the institution.
Sam Loco would later become a household name and one of the early pioneers of Nollywood, starring in many films
He was also a funny actor and starred in films such as:
1. Tom and Jerry
2. World Cup Final
3. Long Jan
4. Ukwa
5. Akịdị
6. My love
7. IJELE, the son of Masquerade
8. Anunuebe

Sam Loco Efe died on August 7, 2011 in his hotel room in Amakọhịa, Owerri, Imo State. To date, no one knows the cause of his death, but the Ventolin inhaler was found on him when the door of the room was broken open. According to the report, Sam Loco was an asthmatic patient.
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