The name Lanre Hassan may not ring a bell, but Iya Awero will surely send signals down the spine. Lanre Hassan, also known as Iya Awero, is a veteran in Nollywood.
She can also best be described as a cross-over actress having acted both in the English and Yoruba movies of Nollywood.
In June 2013, she will roll out drums to celebrate her 50 years on stage. Not too many veterans have achieved that feat.
While telling her pain in a recent interview with First Weekly Magazine, the talented screen mother disclosed how she lost two children in four years which almost ruined her acting career.
“The only thing that shook me happened in 1974, when I lost a child, while acting on stage. He (the child) was with his paternal grandmother, he was seven or eight years and they came to call me that he died that night, I had to rush down to our home town.
“I lost a second child, when Ojo Ladipo (Baba Mero) died. The two of us were at the burial, I woke up, but my baby did not wake up. It really discouraged me, but I summoned courage that I had been doing the work for long; I won’t allow all these to stop me.
“I believe what has happened has happened and that God would take care of other things and take care of the rest. It actually shook me to the extent that I almost quit acting,” she narrated.