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 (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

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 from 1939 to 1941, and the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school 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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 Civil parishes in England, parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, England, Worceste ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, 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 ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The show was first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992 and is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, be ...

'', '' Mercy Peak'', '' Outrageous Fortune'', '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', 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" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'', hosted by Selwyn Toogood. She appeared in movies including the 1981 mystery horror '' Strange Behavior'', '' Constance'' in 1984, '' Mesmerized'' in 1986, and the 1993 biopic '' Bread & Roses'' based on the life of Sonja Davies. 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 online ...

''. 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 () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

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 Writers 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