Akosua Busia

Akosua Gyamama Busia (born 30 December 1966)[1][2] is a Ghanaian actress, film director, author and songwriter who lives in the United Kingdom. She is best known for her role as Nettie Harris in the 1985 film The Color Purple alongside Whoopi Goldberg.

Akosua Busia
Born
Akosua Gyamama Busia

(1966-12-30) 30 December 1966
Ghana
NationalityGhanaian
OccupationActress, film director, songwriter, author
Years active1979–present
Known forNettie Harris – The Color Purple
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1996; div. 1997)
Children1
Parent(s)Kofi Abrefa Busia
Naa Morkor Busia
RelativesAbena Busia (sister)

Family and early life

Akosua Busia is the daughter of Kofi Abrefa Busia, who was prime minister of the Republic of Ghana (from 1969 to 1972)[3] and a prince of the royal family of Wenchi,[4] a subgroup of the Ashanti. Akosua is a princess of the royal family of Wenchi. Her sister, Abena Busia, is a poet and academic, who was a professor in English at Rutgers University,[5] and since 2017 has been the Ghanaian ambassador to Brazil.

Akosua Busia grew up in Ghana, and began her acting career at the age of 16, attending London's Central School of Speech and Drama on scholarship.[6] Her first acting role was as Juliet in an otherwise white cast performing Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at Oxford University, where her siblings were studying.[6]

Career

Busia's film roles include a notable performance as Bessie in a 1986 film adaptation of Richard Wright's novel Native Son (with Geraldine Page and Matt Dillon. She also starred in Hard Lessons alongside Denzel Washington and Lynn Whitfield in 1986.[7] Busia played Nettie (opposite Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg) in Steven Spielberg's 1985 The Color Purple,[8] adapted from Alice Walker's novel of the same title, as Ruth in Badge of the Assassin (1985), as Jewel in John Singleton's Rosewood (1997),[9] and as Patience in Antoine Fuqua's Tears of the Sun (2003).[10] She has also appeared on television in the series ER.[4]

Busia is the author of The Seasons of Beento Blackbird: A Novel (Washington Square Press, 1997, ISBN 9780671014094).[11][12] She was one of three co-writers for the screenplay adaptation of Toni Morrison's 1987 novel Beloved for the 1998 film version of the same name directed by Jonathan Demme.[13] In 2008 Busia directed a film about her father: The Prof. A Man Remembered. Life, Vision & Legacy of K.A. Busia.[14] Busia also co-wrote the song "Moon Blue" with Stevie Wonder for his album A Time 2 Love, released in 2005.[15] Her poem "Mama" is included in the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.[16]

After an 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.[17] 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 John Singleton, 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.[4][13]

She co-founded with her sister Abena Busia the Busia Foundation International, aiming "to provide assistance to the disadvantaged".[18]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1979AshantiThe Senoufo Girl
1983The Final TerrorVanessa
1984 Louisiana Ivy TV movie
1985Badge of the AssassinRuthTV movie
1985The Color PurpleNettie Harris
1986CrossroadsWoman at Boardinghouse
1986Low BlowKarma
1986Hard Lessons (a.k.a. The George McKenna StoryCynthia Byers
1986Native SonBessie
1988SaxoPuppet
1988The Seventh SignPenny Washburn
1991New Jack CityCourtroom SpectatorUncredited
1997RosewoodJewel
1997Mad CityDiane
1997Ill Gotten GainsFey
2003Tears of the SunPatience
2007Ascension DayCherry
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References
  1. Who's Who Among African Americans. 22. Gale Research. 2008. p. 179. ISBN 978-1-4144-3400-1.
  2. McCann, Bob (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Actresses In Film And Television. McFarland. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7864-3790-0.
  3. Takyi, Charles (22 December 2009). "Busia's family endorses new secretary for NPP". The Ghanaian Chronicle.
  4. Kiesewetter, John (7 April 1999). "'ER' actress dreams about having it all". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
  5. "Busia, Abena - Professor", Department of Women's and Gender Studies. Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
  6. Smith, Gail (4 December 1998), "Just don't say 'no'", Mail & Guardian (South Africa).
  7. Akosua Busia on IMDb.
  8. Rosenberg, Donald (19 June 1990). "Akosua Busia's Dual Performance In 'Color Purple' Still Astonishing". Rocky Mountain News.
  9. Levin, Jordan (30 June 1996). "On Location: Dredging in the Deep South". Los Angeles Times.
  10. Fuchs, Cynthia (8 March 2003). "Tears of the Sun: Review". PopMatters.
  11. Rush, George (17 April 1997). "D'Angelo joins Al's bev-y of beauties". New York Daily News.
  12. "Writer", Akosua Busia website.
  13. Fierman, Daniel (16 October 1998). "Brawl Over 'Beloved'". Entertainment Weekly.
  14. "The Prof: A Man Remembered". Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  15. "The wonder of it all". The Detroit News. 8 October 2005.
  16. Maxwell, Anne (19 July 2019). "The many urgent voices of women writers from Africa". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  17. Mark Kennedy, "Akosua Busia re-emerges in the spotlight in ‘Eclipsed’", Washington Times, 23 March 2016.
  18. Foundations, Akosua Busia website.
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