Jimmy Akingbola

Jimmy Akingbola is an British TV actor who landed his first big break in the States in 2015 with a recurring role on the superhero action series "Arrow" (The CW, 2012- ). Born in London to Nigerian parents, Akingbola had a rather a difficult childhood. His parents divorced when he was a young boy, and his mother, who was Jimmy's primary caretaker, became very ill when he was only two years-old. With no family around to care for the toddler, Akingbola's mother was forced to send her young son to foster care. Akingbola spent the remainder of his formative years being raised by his white foster family in the London neighborhood of Plaistow.

Akingbola later described his foster family as "amazing," seeing as they introduced him to the arts and encouraged him to pursue a career in acting. He later enrolled at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts where he studied his craft for three years, before earning his degree in acting. After college Akingbola started appearing in plays at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. It was on the stage that the young actor learned to hone his craft, while becoming comfortable performing in front of a live audience. By the mid-2000s Akingbola started branching out to television, and nabbed recurring roles on the British TV shows "Stupid" (BBC, 2004-06), "The Crouches" (BBC One, 2003-05), and "HolbyBlue" (BBC One, 2007-08).

Akingbola continued to land primarily TV roles well into the 2010s, including a recurring part on the comedy series "Ballot Monkeys" (Channel 4, 2015). After a decade on British TV, however, Akingbola longed to make a name for himself in the States. So, with that mindset, he traveled across the pond in early 2015 for Hollywood's pilot season. As luck would have it, Akingbola nabbed a recurring role on the superhero action series "Arrow." He appeared as Baron Reiter on the fourth season of the show, marking his American TV debut.