Grace Nortey

Nortey was particularly active between the 80s and the turn of the millennium - the period often described as the golden age of Ghanaian theatre and drama when primetime evening entertainment TV programmes such as "Obra", "Osofo Dadzie", "Key Soap Concert Party", "Cantata", "Taxi Driver", "Thursday Theatre", were at the height of their popularity. She had starred in numerous stage productions prior to appearing in film and television. Before gaining fame on television, she hosted a radio talk show for Ga women ("Nyeawokoshie") on Radio One from the 1970s. Her first major appearance on the screen was in a King Ampaw/Peter Wohlgemuth-Reinery co-produced Afro Movies comic film "Juju" in 1986, where she played the wife of fellow veteran actor Joe Eyison, alongside the likes of Emmanuel Agbenowu, Grace Ofoe, Osei Kwabena, Evans Oma Hunter, among others. Since then, she has starred in countless movies, theatre productions and drama series with both of her contemporaries and the new generation of Ghanaian actors. Some of her most notable movies include Lost Hope, Dza Gbele, Matters of the Heart, Sekina, Expectations, Jewels, Beasts of No Nation (2015), Ties That Bind (2011), Sinking Sands (2011), Nana Akoto (1985), Escape to Love (1996), The Other Side of The Rich (1992), among others.

Grace Nortey (born 1 February 1937) is a Ghanaian actress who has played several lead roles on Ghanaian television. She has been active in the film, theatre and drama industry for over five decades and is considered as one of the ace actresses and pioneers of Ghanaian theatre and drama. She has starred in some of the most memorable movie productions released by the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI). Throughout her long and illustrious career on television, she has gained considerable recognition and admiration as a trailblazer who paved the way for women's active involvement in the performing arts. Grace is recognised as one of the most prominent and versatile Ghanaian female actresses to bring comedy and drama to the masses, particularly in TV programmes such as Akan Drama and TV Theatre. In doing so, she championed the cause of women in a male-dominated society, challenged the asymmetric power relations between the rich and the poor, and lent voice to the disadvantaged and oppressed through resistance and open rejection of discriminatory traditions and unethical practices. She was often typecast as a feisty, vocal, assertive, eloquent, no-nonsense and strong-willed matriarch who confronted outmoded and discriminatory traditions and practices, including the deeply conservative views of the patriarchy, male domination, backward and dehumanising socio-cultural practices against women and girls, class discrimination, institutional corruption, social injustice, among others. One significant attribute of Grace's numerous performances which has won her millions of adoring fans is how she often took on formidable male opponents with unflinching resolve and dogged determination.