Hugh Quarshie


Hugh Anthony Quarshie is a Ghanaians in [the United Kingdom|Ghanaian-born British] actor. He is known for his long-running role as Ric Griffin on the BBC One medical drama Holby City, and for playing List of Star [Wars characters#Quarsh Panaka|Captain Panaka] in the Star Wars film Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
He is also known for stage roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, of which he has been a member since 1981 and an associate since 2005. His film work includes Highlander, Nightbreed and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. 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.

Early life

A member of the Euro-African community of Ghana, Quarshie is of mixed Ghanaian, English and Dutch ancestry. He was born in Accra, Ghana, to Emma Wilhelmina and Richard Quarshie. His mother was of chiefly ancestry; her relatives currently serve as the chiefs of the Ghanaian village of Abii.
Hugh emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom at the age of three. He was educated at Bryanston School in Dorset and Dean Close School in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, before reading PPE at Christ Church, Oxford.

Career

Quarshie had considered becoming a journalist before taking up acting. He is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has appeared in many stage productions and 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 attended the Star Wars fan event "Star Wars Celebration" in 1999. 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 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, 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.

Political views

Quarshie was a supporter of the Women's Equality Party.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1980The Dogs of WarZangaron Officer
1985Baby: Secret of the Lost LegendKenge Obe
1986HighlanderSunda Kastagir
1989La ChiesaFather Gus
1990NightbreedDetective Joyce
1999Wing CommanderLieutenant Obutu
1999Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom MenaceCaptain Panaka
2000It Was An AccidentGeorge Hurlock
2000ThreesomeDaveShort film
2003Conspiracy of SilenceFr Joseph Ennis, SJ
2011GhostedAde
2012Black MagicShort film
2013The MeetingJackShort film
2018Red SparrowSimon Benford
2018Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of GrindelwaldMustafa Kama
2020What MattersEwanShort film
2021Fire AntsEwenShort film
2022The Railway Children ReturnGeneral Harrison
2023Book Club: The Next ChapterOusmane
2024The ReturnImphinomous