Pete Smith (actor)


Peter Bruce Smith (born 7 August 1958 in Kaitaia) is a New Zealand actor of Māori descent.

Career

Smith joined a drama course that was run by the Maori film maker Don Selwyn, and soon performed in several of Selwyn's theatre productions, among them The Gospel according to Taane(1985), The Maori Merchant of Venice (2002) and Te Whai Ao.

Smith made his screen debut with a GOFTA-winning role as one of the last people on earth, in science fiction film The Quiet Earth (1981).

Smith's film credits include many notable New Zealand films, among them The Piano (1993), Once Were Warriors (1995), and the latter's sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted (1999). He also featured as an orc in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

Smith also appeared in several television programmes, including E Tipu E Rea (1989), Marlin Bay (1992–94), Plainclothes (1995), Shortland Street (1999), Greenstone (1999), and Mataku (2001–04). He also starred in the drama series The Market (2005), for which he received an award for Best Performance by a supporting Actor at the Air New Zealand Screen Awards.

Smith performed in comedy skits and sketches in The Billy T James Show (1990) and current events satires Issues and More Issues (1991). Smith has also featured in and narrated several commercials and documentaries.

Additionally Pete Smith has created, presented, narrated, and directed several episodes of documentary series among them Nga Waiata o Te Hiku o Te Ika: Songs of the North (2002)[1] and Maramataka: Once Were Gardeners (2007). The latter 13-part series, screened on Māori Television, was a look at modern Māori relationships with the land.

Awards

Smith won best supporting actor in New Zealand drama feature film Flight of the Albatross (1987).

In 2006, he won Best Performance by a Supporting Actor at the Air New Zealand Screen Awards for his role in The Market.[2]

Selected filmography

Film
Film Year Role
The Quiet Earth 1985 Api
Pandemonium 1987 Peter Kong
Candy Regentag 1989 Clayton
Angel in Green 1987 Ramon
Crush 1992 Horse
The Piano 1993 Hone
Rapa-Nui 1994 Priest
Once Were Warriors 1994 Dooleys
Flight of the Albatross 1997 Leading
The Boys 1997 Abbo
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted 1998 Apeman
The Legend of Johnny Lingo 2002 Scary Chief
The Lord of The Rings: Return of the King 2003 Hero Orc
Spooked 2004 Truck Driver
Hugh and Heke 2006 Heke
The Tattooist 2006 Taxi Driver
The One Armed Bandit 2012 Bill the barman

Television
Title Year Role
Heroes 1986 Churchill
E tipu e rea: Eel 1989 Tom
Raiders of the Southseas 1990 George
Billy T. James Show 1990 Guest
Opo 1991 Dan
Gold 1991 Pita
Issues 1991 Skits
More Issues 1991-1992 Skit Guest
Marlin Bay 1992-1994 Matiu Burrows
Maori Myths and Legends 1993 Presenter
The further adventures of the Black stallion - Park Ranger
Hightide 1995 Mexican
Plainclothes 1995 Oscar Kingi
A question of justice 1995 David Tamihere
Letter to Blanchy 1995 Guest Lead
Hei Konei Ra 1998 Lead
Greenstone 1999 Wahana
Shortland Street 1999 Te Hamua
Mataku 2001 Pahi
Spin Doctors 2001 Dunn
Mataku 2004 Ngamanu
The Market 2005 Chris Johnstone

Theatre
Film Year Role
The Gospel According to Taane 1985 Tu
Treat it Right - Pita
Murder in the Cathedral - 3rd Tempter
The Maori Merchant of Venice 2002 Shylock
Te Whai Ao -

References
  2. "Isola Productions news entry". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28.
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