She was one of the biggest names on television in the 80s. This popular actress was desirable to watch any time she featured in a programme. She is among those who treated Ghanaians to quality entertainment on GTV.

On the entertainment and Arts news, we put the spot light on Belinda Naa Oku popularly known as Adwoa Smart.

Born Belinda Naa Ode Oku, to Mr and Mrs Oku of Abossey Okai, a suburb of Accra some 43 years ago, she was raised by her grandmother the late Cecilia Quaye a.k.a. Ayi Nye (Ayi’s mother), who doted on her with the support of her uncle Dan Oku and her mother.

Adwoa remembers a happy childhood full of fun and love from her family and others from her community.

Because of her size which is unusual for her age people loved to have her around them. “I am sure many people were surprised by my looks and struck friendship with me out of curiosity.” But this was to cost her because she dropped out of school the first few months of her enrolment.

“It was difficult to concentrate in school, at that tender age of six or seven can you imagine what I went through?” “The other children pulled and pushed me, jeered and poked fun at me and did all sorts of unpleasant things to make me very unhappy forcing me to drop out of school” she added sadly.

How come she speaks English and delivers lines in English in some films she has appeared in? She says it is by the Grace of God, according to Adwoa even though she was unable to go to school almost all the other children, her uncles, aunties and others in the house speak English and so she picked bits and pieces of conversations from them. Adwoa mentioned that one auntie she stayed with at Kaneshie always sent her to shop at the market with a long list of items and their prices written on a piece of paper.

“Once she mentioned the items on the list to me I was able to identify them and subsequently got used to whatever she wrote.

Adwoa who says she became smart and witty at an early age, attributed it to the realisation that she can stop people from making fun of her by joining them to make fun at herself.

On how she entered the Arts, Adwoa says she has always loved dancing and cracking jokes so she got invited to funerals, weddings and other such occasions to entertain the guests. Obviously her exploits caught the eyes of Grace Omaboe who asked the late Auntie Rose of Obra to invite me for an audition.

“That was around 1984, at the audition, after only one dance Auntie Grace informed me that I didn’t need any further auditioning and I was picked to join the group.” “From then on I virtually became the daughter of Auntie Grace and since then I have been in her house,” she adds proudly.

Adwoa is grateful first to God, Auntie Grace who says has made her what she is today especially in her work as an actress.

Adwoa Smart has acted a number of television dramas, movies and performed in several stage productions, including Obra, It’s too late, Father and Son, Moneybag, Matters of the heart, Judgement Day and Lucifer.