Ghanaian actor Bob Smith Junior says there have been numerous speculations of his demise due to his long absence from local movies, but assured he is alive and will not die anytime soon.

Popularly known as Diabolo, the veteran actor disclosed that his long stay abroad accounted for his absence from the movie scene.

Explaining his whereabouts to host Nana Romeo on Ayekoo Ayekoo on Accra100.5FM on Thursday 17 March, the Diabolo man said: “I’ve been reported dead five times but I reappear anytime news about my demise emerges.”

He added: “When you are young you want to travel abroad for the experience, so I started travelling in the early ’90s and that gave me the opportunity to shoot the movie Mama Mia, which was shot both in Ghana and abroad. So I was shooting both in Ghana and abroad. I lived abroad for a long time but visited regularly.

“I however made a decision to return to Ghana for good because if you stay abroad for long, your mates back home in Ghana will always be one step ahead of you in life. So I have been living in Ghana for some time, but the job demands that you move around a lot. So, by Gods’ grace I’m alive and will not die anytime soon.”

Mr Smith’s first movie was Zenabu. Prior to that he featured in popular Ghanaian television drama Osofo Dadzie.

He, however, shot to fame as lead actor in the movie Diabolo in the 1990s, usually metamorphosing into a snake.