Billy T James

Billy T James was a New Zealand entertainment icon. He starred in numerous television shows, variety programs, and stage shows. His trademark giggle, black singlet and yellow towel are now embedded in New Zealand's popular culture.

Billy T's contribution to New Zealand comedy is immeasurable. Characters such as the Māori newsreader in Te News and Marae Witness News still cause laughter, many years after their first appearance.  

Billy T began his entertainment career as a singer, and formed his first band while at high school in Whangarei. In the 1970s he joined showband the Māori Volcanics, and performed around the world. His solo show in Australia, then New Zealand, included skits and impressions as well as cabaret singing. It was while living in Australia that Billy dropped the name Taitoko, supposedly because of pronunciation difficulties.

Billy T returned to New Zealand, where his television career took off. After being discovered performing in a rugby league club by producer Tom Parkinson, they created Radio Times (1980) as a vehicle for Billy T's talents. The TV series used the format of a radio variety show, and brought Billy to attention as both a compere and performer.

Billy was given his own sketch comedy programme in 1981. His co-stars in The Billy T. James Show included actors Peter Rowley and Annie Whittle. The show was hugely popular, but partly due to the expense of shooting on location, was finally canned by TVNZ in 1986. 

Billy T. made his big screen debut with the comedy Came A Hot Friday (1984), based on the larger than life novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson. Billy played the Tainuia Kid, a crazed Māori character who believes he is a Mexican bandito. American showbusiness magazine Variety hailed the film as "a major advance in Kiwi comedy". 

Billy's only other movie appearances were providing the voice of pie van owner Pāwai in 1986 animated feature, Footrot Flats - A Dog's (Tail) Tale, and a cameo as an aeroplane pilot in 1987 ski movie The Leading Edge. He also features in Kiwi Magic, a big-budget short made on large format 70mm film, which continues to screen regularly at a cinema in Queenstown.

On the small screen, Billy T. acted in science fiction classic Under the Mountain, and in The Protesters, an adaptation of the play by Rowley Habib.

Billy T. James won the Feltex Best Entertainment Award in 1984, and an award for Entertainer of the Decade in 1985. In 1990 he received the Variety Club Benny Award for outstanding contribution to entertainment.

Billy T was talented at drawing, and in 1986 he and cartoonist Chris Slane collaborated on the comic book The Billy T. James Real Hard-Case Book. Book 2 followed a year later.

In 1989 Billy worked again with Tom Parkinson, creating The Billy T James Show, a sitcom for TV3. This time Billy played a DJ on small-town radio station Cuz FM, alongside screen wife  Ilona Rodgers, Mark Hadlow, and future Scarfies star Willa O'Neill.

By now Billy had developed serious health problems, with a heart transplant the previous year (an experience he recounted in the documentary The James Gang Rides Again.) Billy returned to the stage in 1990, in variety special Billy T James, Alive and Giggling. His health deteriorated in the months following the show, and he died from a heart attack in 1991. His legacy lives on in the annual Billy T. Awards, with aspiring comedians competing to win the legendary yellow towel.

The 1997 documentary Billy T James - A Daughter's Story, presented by Billy T's daughter Cherie James, includes interviews with many of those who knew and worked with Billy. Since working on the film, Cherie has twice been nominated for her acting work, in Mataku and The Market.

December 2009 saw the publication of Matt Elliott's biography Billy T. - The Life and Tmes of Billy T James.

Moe mai e te rangatira, moe mai.