PeteSmith
- Actor
- Presenter
Pete Smith debuted with a GOFTA-winning role as one of the last people on earth, in classic sci-fi film The Quiet Earth (1985). Smith found acting after being welcomed onto the marae for his father's tangi. Keen to rediscover his ancestry and a "better life", he joined a drama course run by mentor Don Selwyn. He played a detective in Plainclothes, a gang leader in What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? and had an award-winning role on TV series The Market. Later Smith co-created and presented Far North gardening show Maramataka - Once Were Gardeners, and starred in 2010 movie Hugh and Heke. He died on 29 January 2022, at age 63.
Screenography
Awards
2006 Air New Zealand Screen Awards
Best Supporting Actor - Television: for The Market
1996 TV Guide New Zealand Film and Television Awards
Best Supporting Actor - Film: for Flight of the Albatross
“The dynamic for me was ‘what can I contribute?’ The whole community was contributing to the upbringing of my kids ... all producing strong upstanding kids. I thought ‘let’s have a film company in Kaitaia. Let’s be the first ones'. ”
