Gyearbuor Asante

Gyearbuor Asante was a Ghanaian actor who built his career in Britain. He is best remembered as Matthew, the Gambian mature student, in the Channel 4 sitcom Desmond's.

Early life and training

He was born Frederick Christopher Kwabena Gyearbuor Asante Erskine on 4 November 1941 in Accra, into a line of chiefs from Kwahu Tafo in the Eastern Region. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1967 and trained as an actor at the Mountview Theatre School, which later created a Gyearbuor Asante Prize for Acting in his memory.

British television and film

Billed as Christopher Asante, he appeared in British television in the 1970s and 1980s, including episodes of Space: 1999, Mind Your Language, Hazell and The Professionals, and a television production of Ubu Roi in 1976. He played the minister in the 1983 film Local Hero. As Matthew in Desmond's, set in a barber's shop in Peckham, he became familiar to a wide British audience.

Chieftaincy and return to Ghana

He turned down the chance to become a chief in Kwahu Tafo in order to act; the title went instead to his friend, the television producer Humphrey Barclay. He returned to Ghana in 1995 and was made a cultural ambassador.

Death

He died in Accra on 2 August 2000 and was buried at Kwahu Tafo.