David Kwame Dontoh (born 1964) and affectionately called Uncle David, "Ghanaman" and "Kofi Abranteɛ" (Kofi Gentleman), is a veteran Ghanaian actor and television personality who has starred in numerous local and international films, drama, theatre and other stage productions. He has been very influential in the development of television and drama, especially during the golden age of theatre in Ghana in the 80s and 90s. He took up acting in 1980 after seeing a National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) newspaper advert inviting potential actors to come forward for training in stage and film acting. His first NAFTI film was The Way To Shame, a short seven minute stage production which was directed by Alex Bannerman as part of his formal assessment in drama production. Bannerman who was a student of NAFTI at the time had chanced upon Dontoh and persuaded him to play the lead role, as the intended person had not showed up during shooting. The film's assessment panel, especially Mike Hagan, recognised Dontoh's potential in theatre and drama and highlighted this to the young Alex Bannerman. Subsequently, Dontoh's acting potential became more noticed when he played the lead role in Gus: The Theatre Cat, a short stage adaptation of a poem by T. S. Eliot. The play was directed by George Andoh Wilson of Wilson Acting Academy fame.

Dontoh is best known for his long term role as "Ghanaman", the struggling archetypal middle-aged Ghanaian in the popular local comedy-drama series Ɔbra (Twi for "life"), which was hugely popular in the 80s and 90s. Ɔbra started off as Keteke, a small theatre production first aired on Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to rival Osofo Dadzie.

In Ɔbra, Dontoh starred alongside legendary Ghanaian actors like Grace Omaboe (Maame Dokono), Joe Eyison (Station Master), Amankwaa Ampofo, Esi Kom, Belinda Oku (Adwoa Smart), among others. At this time, Ɔbra was in direct competition with Osofo Dadzie, a rival theatre production which also aired during primetime on Sunday evenings immediately after Talking Point. Later on, Dontoh teamed up with Grace Omaboe (Maame Dokono) to host By The Fire Side, a folklore and storytelling programme which was very popular back in the 90s and beyond. He also co-hosted the hugely popular family entertainment and Akan television quiz programme Agoro (play) as the "Agoro Master" and with his co-host Adwoa Yeboah Adjei (Naporso Hemaa). The programme aired for a decade. With Agoro, participants answered questions about Ghanaian history, language and culture. The programme combined a question-and-answers segment with music and dance. Dontoh later joined forces with other friends in the industry to rebrand Agoro as Agoro Fie (Play House) in 2011 when the former began to wane in popularity.

Dontoh's most notable movies include

Dontoh has been a longstanding member of the Ghana National Theatre management team for several decades and only retired from the organisation in 2000. He co-founded the Ghana Union of Theatre Societies with Mr. Effah Nkrabea Darteh. He is also a founding member of the Ghana Actors Guild and was the Guild's first secretary. He has also been the president of the Ghana Concert Parties Union. Dontoh has also been chairman of the planning committee of the Ghana Music Awards for several years.

Aside from mainstream commercial productions, Dontoh runs his own company, Golden Kauri, and a non-governmental organization, Kaurifire Arts Foundation. He has also founded three theatre groups to support burgeoning actors: KOZIKOZI Theatre Company, Edzikanfo Concert Party and David Dontoh Cultural Ensemble (DADON CULEN).

He is currently the board chairman of the newly formed Ghana National Film Authority (NFA) which was inaugurated in December 2019. The National Film Authority provides general oversight and quality control for the film industry. The skeleton organisation is currently housed within the premises of the Bureau of Ghana Languages and yet to be fully staffed. In 2015, he launched his DAS Professional Acting Institute at the Zenith University College, Ghana.

David Dontoh was born at Gyegyeano, a suburb of Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana. His father was a teacher, writer and an agricultural officer with specialism in vegetable farming and animal husbandry. His mother - Elizabeth Victoria Ackon Green (Efua Beduwa) - was a fish monger. The parents never got married. His paternal grandfather (Humphrey Kweku Dontoh) was a fisherman who hails from Gomoa Fete with ancestral links to the town of Saltpond. He grew up in Cape Coast, Abakrampa and Winneba - fishery and farming towns along the central coast of Ghana. His formative years were spent within a large extended family unit, surrounded by uncles and aunties of various professions. He attributes his success in acting to everyday social situations around conflict, comedy and cohesion within the large and complex family network that he grew in. From an early age, the young David Dontoh took a keen interest in science, geography, history, literature, poetry, philosophy, classical and contemporary art, among others. He was the best geography student in 1975 and could sketch out the globe from memory. He read some of the most influential classical works by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle during school holidays. Originally, Dontoh had wanted to pursue a career either as a doctor or a pilot but fell short of the required admission grades after his Sixth Form exams. A misdemeanour in childhood spurred Dontoh's interest in medicine. He stitched the wound of a friend with whom he had gone to steal coconut fruits from a neighbour's house. The boy had injured his hand on broken glass whiles jumping over a wall to escape capture. Dontoh bravely intervened and secretly stitched the wound with common household needle and thread. Interestingly, doctors found the botched surgical job so expertly done that they felt compelled to leave the stitches in place until the wound completely healed. This remarkable episode earned him the nickname of "Doctor David", which further galvanised his interest in medicine.