BMJ Mureithi
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BMJ Mureithi, also called BMJ Muriithi (born Ben Mutua Jonathan Muriithi alias Jonathan Nyaga on May 4, 1969 in Kanyuambora, Embu district), is a Kenyan actor.
[edit] Biography
Born to Kenyan small scale farmers Sospeter Kironji and Jane Igoki Kironji, Muriithi and his late brother Stephen Njagi Kironji started acting in their village church at a very young age. He later graduated with a diploma from Kangaru High School, Kenya, in 1986, and trained as an actor at the Haraldvangen Institute in Norway, graduating in 1992. During his High School days, he was named the most popular student of class of 1986 due to the stand-up comedy routines he would perform in the school's auditorium. He has many theatre awards to his credit, having acted for television and the stage as well as radio. He has appeared in high-profile TV commercials, including one for Celtel, Kenya's leading cell phone service provider. Among the plays he acted in while in Kenya are Athol Fugard's Sizwe Bansi Is Dead; Joseph Murungu's So Sweet a Bite; and a few of Professor Francis Imbuga's published works.
A versatile actor, Mureithi has been profiled by Kenyan newspapers as one who fits very well in authoritative roles.[citation needed] Although he may not be in the calibre of renowned Kenyan actors like Paul Onsongo, Njeri Luseno or John Sibi Okumu, Mureithi has nevertheless made a mark on the Kenyan theater scene. Earlier in his career, he traversed the country with members of Mt. Kenya Theatrix, sensitizing people on the dangers of HIV/AIDS through drama under the sponsorship of Plan International, a non-governmental humanitarian organization. Kenyan radio listeners have also heard his voice as the presenter of the arts segment of John Obong'o Jr.'s program Kenya Beat. He also trained as a photojournalist in Norway before a stint as a registration assistant with Kenya's department of lands. He later moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he is currently studying theater and film production at Atlanta Metropolitan College. Mureithi is a News Correspondent with Kenya Empowerment Newspaper and a reporter for Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. Before he left Kenya, he sat on the panel of judges for Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival,a popular annual cultural event, as a provincial level adjudicator. Mureithi was previously married to Fiona Clare and is currently the husband to Edith Muriithi. His daughter, Carole Wawira Muriithi is a student at a Hanoi High School in Vietnam.
In the early 1990s, BMJ Mureithi teamed up with fellow Kenyan thespians like Packson Ngugi and a group of activists led by firebrand Kenyan politician James Orengo to protest the government's plan to sell the Kenya National Theatre building, to the adjacent Norfolk Hotel against the wishes of the artists.
