Beryl Margaret Te Wiata (née McMillan; 15 April 1925 – 4 May 2017) was a New Zealand actor, author, and scriptwriter.

Early life and family

Born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

on 15 April 1925, Te Wiata was the daughter of Ethel Laura McMillan (née Hamilton) and Archibald Neil McMillan. She was educated at

Wellington East Girls' College Wellington East Girls' College (WEGC, Maori name: Te Kura Kōhine o te Rāwhiti o Te Upoko o Te Ika) is a state single-sex girls' secondary school which sits directly above Mount Victoria Tunnel, Wellington, New Zealand. Serving Years 9 to 13 ( ...

from 1939 to 1941, and the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

from 1949 to 1950. In 1948 she was working as a secretary in

when she met opera singer Inia Te Wiata. They married on 24 October 1959 at

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Eves ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, England, and had one daughter, Rima, who became an actor and entertainer. Inia Te Wiata died in 1971, and Beryl Te Wiata returned to New Zealand with her daughter two years later.

Career

Beryl Te Wiata was a film, television and stage actress. Her television appearances included roles on '' Shortland Street'', ''

Mercy Peak ''Mercy Peak'' was a New Zealand television series that ran for three seasons on local network TV One, between 2001 and 2004. The series rated well in New Zealand (especially in its second series) and won multiple awards for its cast. Though an ...

'', '' Outrageous Fortune'', ''

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' is an American television series filmed in New Zealand, based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles (Hercules was his Roman analogue). Starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as ...

'', and '' Xena: Warrior Princess''. She was also a panelist on the New Zealand version of the television advice show ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

'', hosted by

Selwyn Toogood Selwyn Featherston Toogood (4 April 1916 – 27 February 2001) was a New Zealand radio and television personality. Early life and family Born in Wellington on 4 April 1916, Toogood was the son of Henry Featherston Toogood and Ethel Lois Co ...

. She appeared in movies including the 1981 mystery horror '' Strange Behavior'', '' Mesmerized'' in 1986, and the 1993 biopic '' Bread & Roses'' based on the life of

Sonja Davies Sonja Margaret Loveday Davies (née Vile; 11 November 1923 – 12 June 2005) was a New Zealand trade unionist, peace campaigner, and Member of Parliament. On 6 February 1987, Davies was the third appointee to the Order of New Zealand."The O ...

. She wrote most of the comic sketches for, and starred in, two one-woman stage shows, ''Mrs. Kiwi Arthur presents'' and ''Mrs. Kiwi Arthur presents … more'' in the early 1980s. She wrote a biography of her late husband, titled ''Most happy fella: a biography of Inia Te Wiata'', first published in 1976, as well as his biography for the ''

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography The ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' (DNZB) is an encyclopedia or biographical dictionary containing biographies of over 3,000 deceased New Zealanders. It was first published as a series of print volumes from 1990 to 2000, went onlin ...

''. In 2007, she compiled and wrote the liner notes for 49 tracks performed by Inia Te Wiata, released by the

National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Na ...

Death

Beryl Te Wiata died on 4 May 2017, aged 92. She is survived by her daughter, Rima Te Wiata.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Wiata, Beryl 1925 births 2017 deaths People from Christchurch People educated at Wellington East Girls' College Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama New Zealand film actresses New Zealand television actresses New Zealand stage actresses 20th-century New Zealand non-fiction writers 20th-century New Zealand women writers New Zealand soap opera actresses 20th-century New Zealand actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses New Zealand expatriates in England