Martyn Sanderson (24 February 1938 – 14 October 2009) was a New Zealand actor, director, producer, writer and poet. Sanderson was described as one of the founding fathers of modern theatre in New Zealand. In New Zealand he had appearances in 26 films, but also worked internationally including in Australia and Samoa.

Biography

Sanderson was born the son of a missionary father and a mother who was a writer, he studied literature at Oxford University, and after a brief study of theology, he abandoned his initial plans of joining the priesthood and a married a ceramic artist, Liz Earth. After returning to his native NZ, he was one of the founders of

Downstage Theatre Downstage Theatre was a professional theatre company in Wellington, New Zealand, that ran from 1964 to 2013. For many years it occupied the purpose-built Hannah Playhouse building. Former directors include Sunny Amey, Mervyn Thompson, and Colin ...

(now the Hannah Playhouse) in 1964 in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

, with a vision of a small professional company performing challenging works in an intimate venue, it is now one of the longest serving theatre companies in New Zealand. He emigrated to Australia in 1966, where he started producing his own documentaries and acting in film roles including the British-Australia production of ''Ned Kelly''. In 1972, his family relocated to

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

, where Sanderson toured with the multi-media group

Blerta Blerta (''"Bruno Lawrence's Electric Revelation and Travelling Apparition"'') was a New Zealand musical and theatrical co-operative active from 1971 until 1975. It was the idea of Bruno Lawrence to arrange a group of musicians, actors and f ...

, and worked on films with Blerta members

Bruno Lawrence David Charles Lawrence (12 February 194110 June 1995) known as Bruno Lawrence was an English-born musician and actor, who was active in the industry in New Zealand and Australia. Initially notable as a musician and founder of 1970s ensemble Ble ...

and director Geoff Murphy. That decade he won a New Zealand

Feltex Award New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awar ...

for playing aviator

Richard Pearse Richard William Pearse (3 December 187729 July 1953) was a New Zealand farmer and inventor who performed pioneering aviation experiments. Witnesses interviewed many years afterward describe observing Pearse flying and landing a powered heavie ...

in a television film of the same title, and was nominated again for playing a British general in the historical miniseries '' The Governor'', the most expensive TV drama made in New Zealand in that decade. Sanderson's work as a screen director included a number of shorts featuring New Zealand poets, plus the 1989 feature ''Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree''. Based on a work by

Albert Wendt Albert Tuaopepe Wendt (born 27 October 1939) is a Samoan poet and writer who lives in New Zealand. He is one of the most influential writers in Oceania. His notable works include ''Sons for the Return Home'', published in 1973 (adapted into a ...

, ''Flying Fox'' is about a young Samoan caught between the values of his homeland and European colonisers. He wrote a documentary ''One of those Blighters'' on

Ronald Hugh Morrieson Ronald Hugh Morrieson (29 January 1922 – 26 December 1972) was a novelist and short story writer in the New Zealand vernacular, who was little known in his home country until after his death. He earned his living as a musician and music teacher ...

and the screenplay for the 1986 film of Morrieson's last novel, ''

Pallet on the Floor ''Pallet on the Floor'' is a 1986 New Zealand made comedy-drama film, based on the final novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson. Shot in 1983 at Patea, partly in a closed-down abattoir, the film was given limited release in New Zealand three years late ...

''. Sanderson's other screen credits include Geoff Murphy's '' Utu'',

Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...

's '' An Angel at my Table'', '' The Scarecrow'', ''

Old Scores ''Old Scores'' is a 1991 television film jointly produced by New Zealand and Wales, about the two countries' mutual national sport of rugby union. It is notable for the appearance of many notable Welsh and New Zealand international rugby player ...

'', '' The Harp in the South'', '' ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy'', a recurring guest role in the first two years of '' Shortland Street'', ''

Poor Man's Orange ''Poor Man's Orange'' is a novel by New Zealand born Australian author Ruth Park. Published in 1949, the book is the sequel to '' The Harp in the South'' (1948) and continues the story of the Darcy family, living in the Surry Hills area of Sy ...

'', the ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

'' episode "The King of Thieves" and '' The Rainbow Warrior''. At the time of his death he was working on a play called ''Muntu'' with his second wife, Wanjiku Kiare Sanderson and directed by Kenyen artist and playwright Wakanyote Njuguna, through the African Connection Aotearoa, that they also founded. Sanderson died of emphysema on 14 October 2009.

Honours

Sanderson was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2005, "for services to literature and the theatre".

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, Martyn 1938 births 2009 deaths Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand male television actors New Zealand male film actors New Zealand screenwriters Male screenwriters New Zealand male soap opera actors 20th-century New Zealand male actors 21st-century New Zealand male actors 20th-century screenwriters