Veteran Yoruba actress Lanre Hassan, popularly known as Iya Awero, has opened up on the challenges she faced in her marriage due to her career in the movie industry.
In an interview with Behind the Fame African List, the 74-year-old revealed that her late husband was violent towards her because she refused to give up acting.
“Our love story is a little powerful. Because when we were still dating, he was very happy that he allowed me to act. He even came to watch me at rehearsals. But, after we got married, he didn’t agree anymore. So sometimes, when I go to act and come home, he would beat me, saying didn’t he warn me not to act.
“Though we didn’t get to enjoy the marriage for long because he died young,” she said.
The screen veteran also explained why she never remarried after his death. “If you say you want to remarry, do you know what you’ll meet where you’re going?” she asked.
In an earlier 2013 interview with Brandiconimage, Iya Awero spoke more about her marital struggles, revealing that her husband expected her to quit theatre after marriage.
“He didn’t like me being in the industry. When I married him, he thought I would leave theatre. But I didn’t because I wasn’t stealing. I stood my ground. I told him if he couldn’t allow me to continue, then he should leave me alone,” she said at the time.
She noted that several veterans including the late Adediran Ajijedidun and Baba Mero tried to mediate, but the tensions persisted until his death at a young age.
The Lagos-born actress began acting as a teenager and became one of the prominent members of the Ojo Ladipo Theatre Group, which later became the Awada Kerikeri Organisation led by Adebayo Salami (Oga Bello).
Iya Awero is one of the few actresses who successfully transitioned from stage plays to television and home videos, appearing in several Yoruba and English-language productions.
In the same 2013 interview, the actress also disclosed that she lost two of her children; one in 1974 and another in 1978, shortly after Baba Mero’s death. She said the pain almost made her quit acting, but she stayed because of her love for the profession.
“I felt like quitting acting at some point. I lost two children at different times. One died in 1974 and the other in 1978. That same 1978, Baba Mero died. All those incidents happened within a short period,” she said.
