Hugh Quarshie

Hugh Quarshie

actor, stage actor, film actor · United Kingdom · 71 years old

Biography

Hugh Quarshie is a Ghanaian-born British actor. He is known for his long-running role as Ric Griffin on the BBC One medical drama Holby City (2001–20), and for playing Captain Panaka in the Star Wars film Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). He is also known for stage roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His film work includes Highlander, Nightbreed, and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Early life and education

Hugh Quarshie was born in Accra, Ghana. He emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom at the age of three. He studied PPE at Christ Church, Oxford.

Career

Quarshie had considered becoming a journalist before taking up acting. He has been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) since 1981 and an associate since 2005 and has appeared in many stage productions. He has also appeared in many television programmes, including the serial Behaving Badly with Judi Dench. He is well known for playing the roles of Sunda Kastagir in Highlander, Captain Panaka in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and Ric Griffin on the television series Holby City. He portrayed Lieutenant Obutu in Wing Commander. He appeared in the 2007 two-part Doctor Who episode "Daleks in Manhattan"/"Evolution of the Daleks" as Solomon, the leader of the shanty town Hooverville. He headed the cast of Michele Soavi's The Church (1989) as Father Gus, and played Aaron the Moor in the BBC Television Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. Quarshie has also narrated for television. His work includes the 2006 documentary Mega Falls of Iguacu (about the Iguaçu Falls), the 2009 adaptation of Small Island, and the 2010 BBC Wildlife series The Great Rift: Africa's Wild Heart.

Personal life

In September 2010, Quarshie featured in an episode of the television genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?, in which he traced his Ghanaian and Dutch origins. The episode revealed that Quarshie is part of his country's old mixed-race elite as one of his ancestors, Pieter Martinus Johannes Kamerling, was a Dutch official on the Gold Coast. This also made him a distant relative of Dutch actor Antonie Kamerling. Quarshie was a supporter of the Women's Equality Party.

Awards and nominations

In 1987, he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and in 2022 he was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for playing Neville Lawrence in Stephen. He has also won a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and an Emmy Award.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

This biography is adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA.

Frequently asked questions about Hugh Quarshie

How old is Hugh Quarshie?

Hugh Quarshie is 71 years old, born December 22, 1954.

What is Hugh Quarshie known for?

Hugh Quarshie is a actor, stage actor, film actor.

What is Hugh Quarshie's nationality?

Hugh Quarshie is United Kingdom.

Where did Hugh Quarshie study?

Hugh Quarshie studied at Christ Church, Bryanston School, Dean Close School.