Akosua Gyamama Busia (born 30 December 1966) is a Ghanaian actress, film director, author and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

who lives in the United Kingdom. She played Nettie Harris in the 1985 film ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'' alongside Whoopi Goldberg.

Family and early life

Busia is the daughter of Kofi Abrefa Busia, who was prime minister of the

Republic of Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and ...

(from 1969 to 1972) and a prince of the royal family of Wenchi, a subgroup of the Ashanti, making Akosua a princess too. Her sister,

Abena Busia Abena Pokua Adompim Busia (born 1953) is a Ghanaian writer, poet, feminist, lecturer and diplomat. She is a daughter of former Prime Minister of Ghana Kofi Abrefa Busia, and is the sister of actress Akosua Busia. Busia is an associate professor of ...

, is a poet and academic, who was a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

in English at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

, and since 2017 has been the Ghanaian ambassador to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Busia grew up in Ghana, and began her acting career at the age of 16, attending

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

's Central School of Speech and Drama on scholarship.Smith, Gail (4 December 1998)
"Just don't say 'no'"
''Mail & Guardian'' (South Africa). Her first acting role was as Juliet in an otherwise white cast performing

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's '' Romeo and Juliet'' at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where her siblings were studying.

Career

Busia's film roles include a notable performance as Bessie in a 1986 film adaptation of

Richard Wright Richard Wright may refer to: Arts * Richard Wright (author) (1908–1960), African-American novelist * Richard B. Wright (1937–2017), Canadian novelist * Richard Wright (painter) (1735–1775), marine painter * Richard Wright (artist) (born 19 ...

's novel '' Native Son'' (with Geraldine Page and Matt Dillon. She also starred in ''

Hard Lessons ''Hard Lessons: Senior Year at Beverly Hills High School'' is a 1988 nonfiction book by Michael Leahy. Plot overview The book follows the lives of six Beverly Hills High School Beverly Hills High School (usually abbreviated as Beverly or ...

'' alongside Denzel Washington and

Lynn Whitfield Lynn Whitfield (''née'' Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a ...

in 1986. Busia played Nettie (opposite Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg) in

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

's 1985 ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'', adapted from Alice Walker's novel of the same title, as Ruth in '' Badge of the Assassin'' (1985), as Jewel in

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

's '' Rosewood'' (1997), and as Patience in Antoine Fuqua's '' Tears of the Sun'' (2003). She has also appeared on television in the series '' ER''. Busia is the author of ''The Seasons of Beento Blackbird: A Novel'' (

Washington Square Press Atria Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster. The publishing group launched as Atria Books in 2002. The Atria Publishing Group was later created internally at Simon & Schuster to house a number of im ...

, 1997, ). She was one of three co-writers for the

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, f ...

adaptation of

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, '' The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' S ...

's 1987 novel ''

Beloved Beloved may refer to: Books * ''Beloved'' (novel), a 1987 novel by Toni Morrison * ''The Beloved'' (Faulkner novel), a 2012 novel by Australian author Annah Faulkner *''Beloved'', a 1993 historical romance about Zenobia, by Bertrice Small Film ...

'' for the 1998 film version of the same name directed by Jonathan Demme. In 2008 Busia directed a film about her father: ''The Prof. A Man Remembered. Life, Vision & Legacy of K.A. Busia''. Busia also co-wrote the song "Moon Blue" with

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

for his album '' A Time 2 Love'', released in 2005. Her poem "Mama" is included in the 2019 anthology '' New Daughters of Africa'', edited by

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Le ...

. After 18-year hiatus to raise her daughter, in 2016 Busia returned to acting in the off-Broadway and Broadway production of Danai Gurira's play '' Eclipsed'', alongside Lupita Nyong'o. For her performance off-Broadway, she received an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance as Rita

Personal life

On 12 October 1996, Akosua Busia married the American film director

, with whom she has a daughter — Hadar Busia-Singleton (born 3 April 1997); the couple divorced on 15 June 1997. Their daughter attended school in Ghana, before returning to the US. She co-founded with her sister

the Busia Foundation International, aiming "to provide assistance to the disadvantaged".Foundations
Akosua Busia website.

Filmography

References

External links

*
"Ama K. interviews Akosua Busia"
YouTube video. {{DEFAULTSORT:Busia, Akosua Ghanaian film actresses Alumni of the University of Oxford 1966 births Living people Ghanaian novelists Ghanaian women novelists 20th-century novelists Ghanaian film directors Ghanaian songwriters Ghanaian screenwriters 20th-century Ghanaian women writers 20th-century Ghanaian writers 21st-century Ghanaian women writers 21st-century Ghanaian writers Ghanaian women film directors Ghanaian women poets