Grace-Charis Bassey Effah (born 14 December 1989) is a Nigerian actress and presenter. She has won six awards throughout her career, including the '' Most Promising Act of the Year'' award at the

9th Africa Movie Academy Awards The 9th Africa Movie Academy Awards ceremony honouring movies of 2012 was held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on 20 April 2013. The event was hosted by actress and former AMAA winner Ama K. Abebrese and Ayo Makun with many celebrities in attendance. ...

. She changed her name after an encounter with God to Grace-Charis Bassey.

Early life and education

Grace-Charis Bassey was born Uyu Effah on 14 December 1989 in

Cross River State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Cross River.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint ...

, a coastal state in Southern Nigeria. Her father, Lieutenant Commander Asido Bassey Effah, was a commander in the Nigerian Navy. She had her primary and secondary education at Hillside International Nursery & Primary School and Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Port Harcourt respectively. She furthered her studies at the

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a public university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975. Th ...

, majoring in Genetics and Bio-Technology. While in secondary school, she adopted the first name Belinda after her brother suggested that she and her siblings change their names. According to an interview with '' The Punch Newspaper'', she claimed that the disciplinary nature of her dad towards his 14 children was very helpful in shaping her career.

Career

She made her

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in '' The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, the ...

television debut in the 2005 TV series ''Shallow Waters''. Afterwards, she took a break from the series to feature in the

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

'' Next Movie Star''. She finished 5th, and was never evicted from the house. She was once a television presenter for '' Sound City'', a Nigerian Entertainment cable station. However, she left the station to start her own TV show titled ''Lunch Break with Belinda''. She is the CEO and founder of GCB Empire, a Nigeria-based clothing and fashion brand. In 2022,

Iké Udé Iké Udé (born 1964) is a Nigerian-American photographer, performance artist, author and publisher based in New York City, United States. Early life and education Udé was born in 1964 in Makurdi, Nigeria where he was raised. The eldest son of ...

's portrait of her was featured in the Nollywood Portraits exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.

Television

Filmography

Accolades

Personal life

In 2016, she gave birth to a son in the United States. She has kept the identity of the child's father private. In 2021, she publicly announced that she would like to be addressed as Grace-Charis Bassey rather than as Belinda Effah. She explained that, on 15 August 2020, she had a divine encounter with God that prompted her to change her name to Grace. Charis is a word of Greek origin that also means "grace."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Effah, Belinda Actresses from Cross River State Nigerian film actresses 21st-century Nigerian actresses Living people Most Promising Actor Africa Movie Academy Award winners 1989 births Nigerian film award winners University of Calabar alumni Participants in Nigerian reality television series Nigerian Christians Nigerian television presenters