David Dontoh is a Ghanaian actor, Director, and TV Personality. He is the Chairman of the Board of the National Film Authority of Ghana and the Proprietor of the DAS Professional Acting Institute (DASPAI) at the Zenith University College in Accra.
Dontoh was the first host of Agoro/Agrofie, a local quiz show that was aired on GTV. He has starred in movies like Screen Two (Deadly Voyage Episode), No Time to Die, and Kukurantumi. He is famous for his role in the Keteke (Obra) Television Series.
David Dontoh Profile Summary
Real name: David Kwame Dontoh
Age: 59 years old
Date of Birth: December 18, 1964
Nationality: Ghanaian
Hometown: Gyegyeano, Cape Coast
Tribe: Fante
Religion: Christian
Early Life
David Dontoh was born on December 18, 1964, at Brofoyedru, Cape Coast. He comes from Gyegyeano, also in Cape Coast, Central Region. He lived with his mother in Gyegyeano from age one to ten and went to live with his father and stepmother in Winneba. He also stayed in Abakrampa with his father and other places in Ghana, specifically in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Region. Dontoh is the only child of his parents, but he has step-brothers and sisters from both sides. His parents lived as a couple, but they didn’t marry. They separated before David’s birth.
Parents
David Dontoh’s parents are Madam Afua Baduwaa, and Mr. Dontoh. His mother is the 10th child of her parents, which is why she was named Baduwaa. She was a fish trader at the Kotokuraba Market, Cape Coast.
Mr. Dontoh was an Agriculturalist, Stenographer, and Stationary Trader. He attended the Pitman’s School of Stenography in Cape Coast and became a Stenographer Secretary. David’s father continued his education at Kwadaso Agriculture College and offered other courses at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He was given a one-year scholarship by the Ministry of Agic, Ghana, to Ibadan University, Nigeria, and later became a stationary Trader. However, he worked with Ghana’s first President at the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Training Institute in Winneba.
Read also: Grace Omaboe Biography
Education
David Dontoh started school at Methodist Primary C at Ayekoo-Ayeeko, Cape Coast. He changed his school to Ankra Middle Boys School when he went to live with his father in Winneba from age 10. Later, David moved to Abrakrampa with his father and step-siblings, and there, he finished his Form 4 at Abakrampa LA Methodist Middle School. He wrote his common entrance exams a year after Form 4 and made it to Apam Senior High School. He was a Science Student but offered English and Poetry as well.
Dontoh was the Best English Student in Ghana in 1975 and the Best Literature Student. He was also good at Drawing and became the 2nd Best in an Art competition in 1973. Also, he was part of his school’s drama club and an athlete (boxer). Dontoh later continued his education at the School of Performing Act at the University of Ghana, where he pursued Drama and Theatre Art.
Wife & Children
David Dontoh is married to Rebecca Dontoh, and they have three children.
Relationship
David Dontoh dated Grace Omaboe, also called Maame Dokono. She is also a movie star, and their relationship journey began during the days of Obra. They were together for years before they moved on with their lives. David Dontoh dated another actress and later his current wife.
Career
When David Dontoh was young, his dream was to become a Pilot. However, that idea changed to a Medical Doctor after he was able to stitch a friend’s wound and was praised by a doctor and his household for what he did.
David offered science at Apam Senior High School to make the grades to a medical school, but unfortunately, he didn’t make it. After completing his Sixth Form at Apam, he worked as a Receptionist at his father’s stationary office in Accra, and a year later, he went to live with an aunt in Dansoman who worked with USAID. His auntie undertook a developmental project in Atebubu, and David had the chance to join her at the Atebubu training college, teachers’ Bungalow, where she was based.
While David Dontoh was with his aunt in Atebubu, he designed the first logo for the Association of Practical Life Education (APPLE) since he was good with Artwork. Later, when he returned to Accra with his aunt, the Director of USAID then, Dr. Olean Hess, visited his aunt at home, and after a conversation with David and knowing he was a good artist, he made him Sketch about seventy illustrations for a book he was writing titled “Agriculture in the Tropics.” He was paid for the work he did.
David Dontoh started his professional acting career around that same time. He went to buy a newspaper and saw a Ghana Films advert where they were searching for people to come and train in Stage Art. Dontoh showed interest in going for the training since he was acting at Apam SHS. When returning after purchasing the newspaper, David met his mate Alex Bannerman, who continued his education at NAFTI after Apam SHS. Bennerman came to Dontoh’s Area in Dansoman to shoot a movie for a final-year student’s project and was the camera handler.
However, the person who was supposed to play the lead role in the movie “The Way to Shame” didn’t show up, and David’s mate, Alex, who knew David was a good actor, decided to convince him to take that role, which he agreed. The NAFTI Students fell in love with David Dontoh’s acting, and after his first movie, “The Way to Shame,” he starred in other film projects of NAFTI students before he went to the Ghana Films Training.
He was trained by the late George Wilson Andoh and was made the lead character in a short drama, “GUS-the Theatre Cat,” which aired before the Mike Hagan talk show on GTV. A year later, He was introduced to the Ghana Theatre Club and became a member of the club, where he started theatre in 1980. His first stage play was “Back To Maumau,” and later, he featured in Back Stars and Mambo.
In 1982, he willingly joined a host of others for the Kekete Drama Series on GTV. After two episodes of Keteke, in 1984, the name Keteke was changed to Obra. The Obra Series had stars like Waakye, Maame Dokono, Adwoa Smart, and Station Master. David Dontoh got his nickname “Ghanaman” after the first two series of Keteke, and then “Kofi Abrantie” when they started Obra.
While he was starring in Obra, he was still a member of the Ghana Theatre Club. He was still doing theatre. He later got to feature in a movie titled “Kukurantumi,” and others which have seen him rise to Stardom. He became the first host of Agoro on GTV in 1998.
Awards
- David Dontoh won the Best Actor Award at the Entertainment Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana Awards in 1984, 1989, and 1992. He won the Best Supporting and World Centenary of Film Award at the Ghana Film Award in 1999, an Award at the PAM African Film Festival, and the Ghana Actors Guild and Aspa Award in 2000.
Movies
- Kukurantumi, No Time To Die, Kalybos in China, Beast of No Nation, Coming to Africa, The Way to Shame (David Dontoh’s First Movie), The Cursed Ones, Royal Madness, Dede, Dark Village, Egya Yaw (Series), and Screen Two (Deadly Voyage).
FAQs about David Dontoh
• Is David Dontoh alive?
Yes, he is alive (2024).