Famous People

Art

Gretchen Albrecht - painter
Rita Angus - 20th C painter
Murray Ball - cartoonist
Charles Blomfield - 19th Century painter
Brian Brake - photographer
William Brassington - stonemason & sculptor
Nigel Brown - painter
Len Castle - potter
Raymond Ching - painter
Marti Friedlander - photographer
Alan Gibbs - art patron
Charles Goldie - 19th Century painter
Sir George Grey - 19th Century art patron
Charles Heaphy - 19th C painter
Louise Henderson - 20th C painter
Frances Hodgkins - painter
Ralph Hotere - painter, educator
John Johnson - 19th C painter
Andrew Kepple Animator and Artist. Notably TMST Animation.
Richard Killeen - painter
Gottfried Lindauer - 19th C painter
Len Lye - 20th C sculptor, experimental film maker
Josiah Martin - 19th C photographer
Colin McCahon - painter, museum curator, teacher
Shona McFarlane - 20th C painter
Peter McIntyre - 20th C painter
Guy Ngan - painter & sculptor
Alfred Sharpe - 19th C painter
Michael Smither - painter
Grahame Sydney- 20th C painter
Bianca van Rangelrooy - painter / sculptor
James Wallace - art patron
Ans Westra - photographer
Toss Woollaston - painter
Robert Henry Wynyard - 19th C artist

Architecture

William (Bill) Alington - 20th C architect
Ian Athfield - architect
Edward Bartley - 19th C architect
Vernon Brown - 20th C architect
John Campbell (1857-1942) - architect
James Walter Chapman-Taylor- 20th C architect
Matthew Henderson - 19th C architect
Isaac Luck - 19th C architect
Jack Manning - 19th Century architect
William Mason - 19th Century architect
John Mitchell - 19th Century architect
Benjamin Mountfort - 19th Century architect
Frederick Newman - 20th Century architect
Andrew Patterson
Francis Petre - 19th Century architect
George Troup - 20th C architect & engineer
Henry Wade - 19th Century architect
Miles Warren

Commerce

Sir John Logan Campbell 1817-1912, merchant, local politician, businessman, philanthropist
Gregory Fortuin - businessman and Race Relations Conciliator (2001-2)
Murray Haszard - entrepreneur and businessman
Dick Hubbard - founder of Hubbards Foods and Auckland mayor (2004-)
Sir Robert Jones, property tycoon.
Sam Morgan - businessman, founder of Trade Me
David Nathan 1816-1886, merchant, auctioneer, shipping agent, community leader
Thomas Russell 1830-1904, lawyer, businessman, politician, financier, land speculator
Sir Angus Tait - businessman and electronics innovator
Stephen Tindall, ONZM - retailer, founder of The Warehouse
Eric Watson - businessman
James Williamson 1814-1888, merchant, landowner, financier, speculator
Jack Yan - publisher, designer and businessman (born in Hong Kong)

Craft, Design and Fashion

Len Castle - ceramicist
Trelise Cooper - fashion designer
Elisabeth Findlay - fashion designer
Rebecca Taylor - fashion designer (moved to USA)
Karen Walker - fashion designer

Film, Radio, Television, Theatre

Andrew Adamson - film director
Peter Arnett - TV journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
Alison Bell - TV journalist and former anchorwoman
Judy Bailey - former TV news presenter
Martin Campbell - film director
John Campbell
Jane Campion - film director
Keisha Castle-Hughes - actress (born in Australia, moved to New Zealand at age 4)
John Clarke - actor, comedian (moved to Australia)
Russell Crowe - actor (moved to Australia at age 4 moved back at age 14)
Cliff Curtis - actor
Aunt Daisy - radio broadcaster
Alan Dale - actor
Roger Donaldson - director (born in Australia)
Roger Hall - playwright and scriptwriter
Mark Hewlett - radio and television personality (born in Zimbabwe)
Paul Holmes - radio and television presenter
Kim Hill
Peter Jackson - film director
Rowena Jackson - ballerina
Billy T. James - comedian, actor
Raybon Kan - columnist, comedian
Phil Keoghan - TV presenter
Lucy Lawless - actress (Xena: Warrior Princess)
Bruno Lawrence - actor and musician with band Blerta (born in England)
Richard Long - Former TVNZ newsreader
Zane Lowe - BBC Radio One DJ (Moved to UK)
Melanie Lynskey - Hollywood actress
Anita McNaught - TVNZ and BBC World newsreader (born in England)
Ngaio Marsh - author and theatrical director
Temuera Morrison - actor
Ian Mune - actor, director, screenwriter
Geoff Murphy - director
Andrew Niccol - film director, screenwriter
Brian Perkins - BBC Radio Four newsreader and announcer
Sam Neill - actor (born in Northern Ireland, raised in New Zealand)
Anna Paquin - actress (born in Canada, raised in New Zealand)
Antonia Prebble actress
Ewen Solon, actor
Lee Tamahori - film director
Hilary Timmins - television presenter
Selwyn Toogood - television and radio presenter
Karl Urban - actor
Vincent Ward, film director
Davina Whitehouse, actress (born UK)
Annie Whittle, actress and singer
Jeremy Wells host of Eating Media Lunch
Douglas Wright - dancer

Inventors

John Britten - designer of the Britten motorcycle
Morton W. Coutts - invented the revolutionary continuous fermentation method of brewing
A J Hackett - Bungy creator
Bill Hamilton - developed the modern jetboat
Colin Murdoch - inventor of the disposable syringe
Richard Pearse - outstanding early aviator/inventor
Alan Pritchard - pioneer of aerial topdressing

Music

Daniel Bedingfield - singer (moved to the UK)
Jack Body - composer
Jemaine Clement, member of folk/pop/comedy duo Flight of the Conchords
Dave Dobbyn - singer, songwriter
Neil Finn - singer, songwriter
Tim Finn - singer, songwriter
Brooke Fraser - singer, songwriter
Che Fu - singer, songwriter
Dame Joan Hammond - violinist, soprano
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa - opera singer
Chris Knox - singer, songwriter
Douglas Lilburn - composer, educator
Courtney Love - singer, actress (born in San Francisco, California, U.S., but spent the childhood on a sheep farm in Nelson, where went to a boarding school)
Malvina Major, opera singer
Jenny Morris - singer, songwriter
Sir Howard Morrison - entertainer
Simon O'Neill, opera singer
John Rowles - singer
Bic Runga - singer, songwriter
Scribe - rapper
Jon Toogood - Lead singer of the band Shihad
Keith Urban - singer
Holly Valance - singer (moved to Australia)
Hayley Westenra - singer

Politics

Georgina Beyer - world's first transsexual MP
Jim Bolger - Prime Minister (1990-7)
Helen Clark - Prime Minister (1999-)
Sir Roger Douglas - Minister of Finance 1980s
Christine Fletcher MP & Mayor of Auckland
William Fox - Prime Minister
Sir George Grey- Prime Minister and twice Governor
Keith Holyoake - Prime Minister and Governor-General
Norman Kirk - Prime Minister
David Lange - Prime Minister
Don McKinnon - Secretary General of the Commonwealth
Mike Moore - Prime Minister and Director-General of the World Trade Organization
Sir Dove-Myer Robinson - long serving Auckland mayor
Sir Robert Muldoon - Prime Minister (1975-84)
Sir Maurice O'Rorke George Maurice O'Rorke 1830 - 1916
Michael Joseph Savage - Prime Minister
Richard Seddon - Prime Minister
Jenny Shipley - New Zealand's first female Prime Minister (1997-9)
Tariana Turia - Maori politician
Sir Julius Vogel - Prime Minister

Religion

Lloyd Geering - theologian
Paul Reeves - Archbishop and Governor-General
Bishop Selwyn - first Anglican Primate

Science and Medicine

Alexander Aitken - mathematician/statistician, writer, mental calculator, musician
Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes - heart surgeon
Leslie Comrie - computer pioneer
G. H. Cunningham - "father" of New Zealand mycology
Joan Dingley - mycologist
Doug Dye - plant bacteriologist
Charles Gifford - teacher and very successful promoter of astronomy
Sir Harold Gillies - pioneering plastic surgeon
Sir Fred Hollows - eye surgeon
Vaughan Jones - mathematician, awarded Fields Medal
Sir Archie McIndoe - pioneer plastic surgeon
Alan G MacDiarmid - co-winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Frank Newhook - plant pathologist
William Pickering, central figure and pioneer of NASA space exploration
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson - scientist and winner of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Robert Webster - discovered the link between human flu and bird flu
Maurice Wilkins - shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his part in elucidating the structure of DNA

Sports

Chris Amon - racing driver
Anne Audain - runner
Todd Blackadder - rugby player
Sir Peter Blake - yachtsman
Possum Bourne - rally driver
Pero Cameron - basketball player
Michael Campbell - golfer
Hamish Carter - triathlete
Sir Bob Charles - champion golfer
Don Clarke - rugby player
Christian Cullen - rugby player
Russell Coutts - yachtsman (moved to Switzerland)
Rod Dixon - runner
Scott Dixon - racing driver
Caroline Evers-Swindell, champion rower
Georgina Evers-Swindell, champion rower
Ian Ferguson - kayaker
Bob Fitzsimmons - world boxing heavyweight champion (born in UK, raised in NZ)
Tom Fyfe - mountaineer and mountain guide
Sir Richard Hadlee - cricketer
Murray Halberg - runner
Sir Edmund Hillary - mountaineer
Doug Howlett - rugby player
Denny Hulme - world champion racing driver
Brian Lochore - rugby player
Jonah Lomu - rugby player
Jack Lovelock - runner
Arthur Lydiard - running coach
Sean Marks - basketball player
Precious McKenzie - weightlifter (born in South Africa)
Bruce McLaren - racing driver
Colin Meads - rugby player
Stan Meads - rugby player; younger brother of Colin
Andrew Mehrtens - rugby player (born in South Africa)
Lorraine Moller - runner, won Boston Marathon
Dick Quax - runner
Melodie Robinson - rugby player Black Ferns, sports journalist, fmr Miss Canterbury
Joe Rokocoko - rugby player (born in Fiji)
Wynton Rufer - soccer player, voted Oceania Player of the Century
Peter Snell - runner
Wayne Shelford - rugby player
Carlos Spencer - rugby player
Mark Todd - horseman
John Walker - runner
Michael Walker - jockey
Sarah Ulmer - cyclist
Tana Umaga - rugby player
Irene Van Dyk - netball player (born in South Africa)
Tony Wilding - tennis player

Other Famous New Zealanders

Bill Andersen - trade unionist
Rewi Alley - friend of China
Jean Batten - aviator
Kylie Bax - supermodel
Thomas Bracken - author of -God Defend New Zealand- and first to publish the phrase -God's Own Country
Ian Brackenbury Channell - The Wizard of Christchurch and of New Zealand (born in England)
Teresa Cormack - young murder victim
Graeme Cairns - performer, musician, and politician
Charlotte Cleverley-Bisman, ill baby who made news headlines worldwide
Derek Freeman, anthropologist
Eve van Grafhorst - AIDS patient and activist (born in Australia)
Ben (the Blanket Man) Hana - Wellington character
Hone Heke - Maori leader
Rachel Hunter - supermodel
Marty Johnstone - Mr Asia
Pat Kelly - trade unionist
Michael King - historian
Te Kooti - Maori leader
Peter Mahon - lawyer
John Minto - activist
Burt Munro - speed record breaker
Sir Keith Sinclair - Historian
Kate Sheppard - suffragist
Frank Worsley - Antarctic explorer and mariner