Lorae Parry

Known for her Helen Clark impersonations, actor Lorae Parry is also a respected playwright. Australian-raised Parry was a teenager when she moved to New Zealand in the early 1970s. It wasn't long until she "fell into acting", while flatting with two actors. One of Parry's first screen gigs was an adaptation of James K Baxter radio play Jack Winter's Dream in 1979. Parry went on to act in TV series Open House, played a detective on cop drama Shark in the Park, and imitated Helen Clark in the first season of sketch show Facelift (2004). Parry has directed, written and acted in plays in England and Aotearoa, including Frontwomen and Strip.

If you believe you can do it, you can do it, I've always believed. The thought comes first and you catch up with it. Success only comes from making a deadline, booking a theatre, say, and then you have to do it. But you have to be sure of yourself. Lorae Parry in The NZ Herald, 19 May 1989