Peter Mensah is one of the most popular Hollywood actors of black decent. Best known for acting as a horse clan leader and messenger in ‘Avatar’ and ‘300’ respectively, Peter has defied all forms of racial discrimination and worked his way into stardom and world-wide fame.
Currently playing Oenomaus on ‘Spartacus’, you may have seen him on screen on several or few occasions but has not known so much about him.
Here are very fascinating but lesser known facts about the iconic motion capture actor:
Peter Mensah was born at Chiraa, in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana, to parents of the Asante tribe who were strictly academics. Peter later moved to Hertfordshire, England, with his family at a very tender age. In his career as an actor, he has really made his country proud. He also has not forgotten his fatherland but has established a school there which is serving the country well.
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While growing up in the UK, as early as the age of six, Mensah started training in martial arts. That’s exactly why he’s able to play a lot of fast motion/action roles that require great fighting skills, one of the typical examples of such is his role as ‘Oenomaus’ in Spartacus.
Peter is also an athlete. He loves doing judo, track and field events – long jump, triple jump and the 400 and 800 metres.
Looking at his expertise in acting, it may be hard to believe that Peter used to be an engineer before he became an actor! Although he studied theatre arts in school, he worked for British Gas developing gas fields at Morecomb Bay. He is believed to have done this to please his father who is also an engineer. He actually studied theater acts to get the pass for his parents to go into acting which is his original life ambition. It was around the year 2000 that he decided to migrate to Canada with the aim of making a career in acting.
With his imposing and intimidating physique and stature, you’ll hardly guess Mensah’s age correctly. He is an imposing presence. At 1.91 metres tall, with a skin color of glazed leather and a body like that of a Greek sculpture, you’ll hardly think he’s up to fifty. On the contrary, Peter will soon clock 60! Peter Mensah was born on 27th August 1959. He is currently 58 years old.
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This is actually the most surprising of all the Peter Mensah lesser known facts – Peter is unmarried with no kids! He once revealed the reason behind his single status to be lack of time for relationship and family.
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