Peter Harcourt
Best known for his many decades in radio, Peter Harcourt's career also included books and varied screen appearances. In the 60s he and his wife Kate Harcourt fronted Junior Magazine, one of our earliest children’s TV shows. Peter went on to act on Gloss and present the Mobil Song Quest, though his most famous screen appearance runs just 21 seconds – a 60s era underwear ad which was originally rejected as too risque to screen.
Josh Thomson
Tongan-Kiwi comedian Josh Thomson won attention after starring in 48 Hour short films Only Son and Brown Peril. Along with acting (Hounds) and appearances on comedy show 7 Days, Thomson is also an editor and director. In 2017 he starred in movie Gary of the Pacific, as a hapless real estate agent turned Pacific Island chief. The same year, he joined Three's primetime news show The Project.
Louise Wallace
Eclectic certainly describes Louise Wallace’s screen career: from baseball cap-wearing host of Mobil Sport, to presenting and reporting for current affairs programmes 60 Minutes and 20/20, to headline-grabbing reality TV host and participant (The Weakest Link, Celebrity Treasure Island) and acting (as a judge in Street Legal). In 2016 she was cast in Real Housewives of Auckland.
Celia Jaspers (née Offwood)
Celia Jaspers directed and produced award-winning documentary Primeval New Zealand for NHNZ. She got into television early — thanks to a tangled camera cable — and has stayed, developing a range of skills from editing to directing.
Ingrid Park
Actor Ingrid Park has played evil (as a violent psychiatrist on Shortland Street), legal (as the feisty lawyer girlfriend to Jay Laga'aia's character, on Street Legal) and quirky (helping bury the body, on dead husband series Burying Brian). Raised in Palmerston North, Park studied engineering before getting her Shortland Street break in 1998. Playing dodgy doctor Mackenzie Choat, her plotlines included adultery, a problem with prescription drugs, and blowing up the clinic. In 2009 Park began five seasons on Go Girls, playing real estate agent Fran McMann. She also appeared in TV's Agent Anna.
Robyn Malcolm
Robyn Malcolm is one of New Zealand television’s best-loved actors. An accomplished stage performer before moving into screen roles, she is best known for six seasons as Outrageous Fortune matriarch Cheryl West. Malcolm has appeared in television (Shortland Street, Serial Killers, Agent Anna), movies (The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell) and documentaries (Our Lost War).
Hugo Manson
Broadcaster Hugo Manson fronted the news on Wellington station WNTV-1, and went on to report for current affairs shows throughout the 70s and early 80s. He is probably best known for a stint presenting iconic consumer affairs programme Fair Go. Off screen, Doctor Manson’s career ranges from oral history expert, a PhD in education (from England's Bath University) to real estate agent and author. He also co-founded the NZ Oral History Archive (now part of the National Library of New Zealand) with Judith Fyfe, and has taught and helped create oral history courses at Aberdeen University in Scotland.
Roy Billing
Veteran actor Roy Billing has acted in so many films, TV shows and plays, his CV runs to more than 10 pages. Often cast as the straight-talking everyman, Billing has also provided award-winning screen portrayals of rugby-playing priests (Old Scores), drug barons (Underbelly), small-town mayors (The Dish) and avuncular judges (Rake).
Steve Parr
Radio man Steve Parr added TV to his resume when he began presenting kids show What Now? After the Kiwi version of Sale of the Century launched in 1989, Parr perfected an entrance that is still remembered today. The highrating quiz show lost steam after being pulled back to a 5.30pm slot, then was briefly reborn on TV3. Australian-based since 2001, Parr now works in real estate and does occasional corporate and voiceover work.
Temuera Morrison
Temuera Morrison was acting on screen at age 11. Two decades later he won Kiwi TV immortality as Dr Ropata in Shortland Street, and rave global reviews as abusive husband Jake Heke in Once Were Warriors. Since reprising his Warriors role in a well-regarded sequel, Morrison has starred in Crooked Earth, Tracker and Mahana, hosted a talk show and a variety show, and played Jango Fett in two Star Wars prequels.