y name is Benjamin A.
Onyango. I grew up the second
child of 7 boys to parents
Christopher Ochieng and Eudiah
Achieng Ochieng. We were not well off
by any stretch of the imagination. We
lived in Ofafa Jericho. I would attend
Ofafa Jericho Primary School and life
as it would be for a poor family was not
the best in terms of material possessions
but we were a very happy family. I had
a strict father who kept my naughty
ways in check. I didn’t do too well in
my Certificate of Primary Education
(CPE) due to youth gang involvements.
As a result, my dad took me to Got
Osimbo Primary School in the village of
Ugenya so that I could repeat Standard
Seven. The school headmaster was
dad’s brother-in-law, a strict disciplinarian known locally as Japuonj Okoth.
There I did well despite almost dying
and spending28 days at the main
Hospital in Kisumu because Malaria-related illness. I returned to Nairobi and
joined Ofafa Jericho Secondary School.
My dad worked at BAT Kenya Ltd as a
clerk while my mom was a
stay-at-home mom. Together with my
brothers we attended Jericho Baptist
Church which was only a stone’s throw
away from our residence. When I turned
18, my dad got me hired at British
American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya Ltd
and I worked as a clerk in the Wages
Department for 4 years and later
switched to the Computer Dept. After 7
years at BAT Kenya Ltd I resigned and
joined United States International
University (USIU) to study Management Information Systems (MIT).
I immigrated to the United States in
1987, a year after resigning from BAT
Kenya Ltd. I came on my own first then
the family consisting of my beautiful
wife Elizabeth Onyango (French
lecturer, Utalii College then) and my
oldest daughter Ida Onyango (3 years
then) followed a year after. I had only
covered one year at USIU, and with my
new domicile, I had transfer to USIUSan Diego in the USA. I never took a
single class at USIU-San Diego because
I transferred to California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, California
IDEA DIAPORA 40
and later graduated in 1992 with a
Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science. As soon as I graduated I left
Turlock for Hollywood. I reasoned that
the degree was for my parents and now
I was going to do what I really loved –
Music and Acting.
In Hollywood I joined a Funk-Rock
fusion band The Passing that later
changed its name to P.F.O. While
playing the Hollywood Clubs with this
band I also worked as a Substitute
Teacher. I also registered with Cenex
Casting, the largest non-union Extras
Casting Agency in Hollywood at the
time. They placed me in over 60 Films
and TV shows as an Extra. In 1999, I
got cast as an extra in the Season finale
of The X-Files TV Show. While on the
set I told one of the directors I spoke
Swahili. Moments later I was bumped
up from an extra to a Principal on the
show. Because the TV show was a
Union show, they were forced to make
me Union through a process called
Taft-Hartely . Right after joining the
Union, other big acting jobs like Tears
of The Sun soon followed and the rest
as you say is history. That’s how I got
started in the acting Industry.
Acting was not always my dream.
Music was my first love. In my teen
years in Jericho, I was the Lead guitarist
for the only rock band in Nairobi then
called Fireplace. We played at the
Revolving Restaurant located on top of
the Kenyatta International Conference
Center (KICC) building every Sunday
afternoons. Members Fireplace are
currently successful contributors of
Society in Kenya. For example, Bruce
Odhiambo (head of Youth Fund) played
Bass before leaving to join another
band, Earthquake; Jacob Dongo (Kenya
Premier League), my brother and
rhythm guitarist; Joseph Mutinda
(Surgeon) played bass; Henry Kariuki
(Real Estate) played the drums and
Frederick Kilonzo (Pastor) played
keyboards. All the acting I ever did in
Nairobi were little skits that we wrote
and acted out in our Youth Group at
Jericho Baptist Church. Perhaps it’s safe
to conclude that I love anything to do
with entertainment.
My first major role in a movie was
playing the lead fisherman on the
X-Files TV show. I was a Principal cast,
with lines! I also acted alongside the
show’s star Gillian Anderson. This was
a far cry from doing extra work where
although you get paid, no one ever sees
or recognizes you as