Hugh Quarshie lives in England but maintains close links with Ghana, where he was born, and spent the first few years of his life. He studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford, where he was president of the O.U. African society, and co-director of the Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare Company. After graduating, he worked as a journalist becoming sub-editor at West Africa Magazine. He subsequently co-directed Othello at the Greenwich Theatre, and authored the play The Prisoner of Hendon.

Hugh's theatrical credits include: Julius Caesar, Faust, The Relapse, The Winter's Tale, Henry IV parts I & II, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, all for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was also in Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming Of The Shrew for the Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare Company, Othello for the Oxford Playhouse, Whose Life Is It Anyway at the Savoy Theatre, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Royal National Theatre, and two separate productions of The Great White Hope - at the RSC and the Tricycle Theatre. At the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg, he was in Romeo and Juliet and Guys and Dolls, both directed by Michael Bogdanov.

On television, Hugh's credits include Melissa, She's Out, Buccaneer, Medics (Series 1-3), Surgical Spirit, Gregory, Diary Of A Nutcase, Rumpole Of The Bailey, Give Us A Break, and A Midsummer's Night's Dream.

His film credits include Nightbreed directed by Clive Barker, The Church directed by Michele Soave, Highlander directed by Russell Mulcahy, Baby - Secret Of The Lost Legend directed by Bill Norton, and The Dogs Of War by John Irvin.