Harry Alan Sinclair (born 1959) is a New Zealand film director, writer and actor. In his early career he was an actor and member of
The Front Lawn
The Front Lawn was a New Zealand musical/theatrical duo founded by Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair in 1985. In 1989 and 1990, they were joined by actor Jennifer Ward-Lealand. The Front Lawn were known for their live performances, and toured e ...
, a musical theatre duo. He went on to write and direct several short films, a TV series and three feature films. He is best known for his role as
Isildur
Isildur () is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, the elder son of Elendil, descended from Elros, the founder of the island Kingdom of Númenor. He fled with his father when the island was drowned, becoming in his turn Kin ...
in the first scenes of
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
's ''
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring''.
Early life
Harry Sinclair was born in 1959 in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, New Zealand. He is the son of historian
Keith Sinclair and brother of writer
Stephen Sinclair
Stephen Sinclair is a New Zealand playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the co-author of stage comedy '' Ladies Night''. In 2001, the French version won the Molière Award for stage comedy of the year. Other plays include ''The Bellbird'' a ...
.
Sinclair studied acting at the
Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, and went on to a career on the stage in Auckland, as well as roles in a number of New Zealand films including working with
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
, playing the role of Roger in ''
Braindead
''BrainDead'' is an American political satire science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Robert and Michelle King. The series stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Laurel Healy, a documentary film-maker who takes a job working for h ...
'' and
Isildur
Isildur () is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, the elder son of Elendil, descended from Elros, the founder of the island Kingdom of Númenor. He fled with his father when the island was drowned, becoming in his turn Kin ...
in ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
''.
Career
The Front Lawn
In 1985 he co-founded The Front Lawn (with
Don McGlashan
Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
), a multi-media comedy music duo. Sinclair and The Front Lawn toured internationally with a series of live shows including: ''Songs and Stories from The Front Lawn'', ''The Reason for Breakfast'', ''The Washing Machine'', and ''The Story of Robert''. They also completed two music albums, ''Songs from The Front Lawn'' and ''More Songs from The Front Lawn''. They performed twice at the
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...
, in 1988 and 1989, winning
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
newspaper's theatre award for the festival in 1988, and in both years winning inclusion in the "Pick of the Fringe" season at London's
Donmar Warehouse
The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977.
Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...
.
The Front Lawn also toured extensively in Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand.
Sinclair and McGlashan made several short films: ''The Lounge Bar'' (which was featured in the First Annual International Festival of Short Films in the U.S. as one of the "world's best live-action shorts"), ''Walk Short'' and ''Linda’s Body'' (which won Best Short Film at the New Zealand Film Awards).
Films
After The Front Lawn disbanded in 1990, Sinclair directed two short films, ''Casual Sex'', and ''Avenue Du Maine''.
Sinclair's first feature film ''
Topless Women Talk About Their Lives'' (1997), starring
Danielle Cormack
Danielle Cormack (born 26 December 1970 )is a New Zealand stage and screen actress. She was one of the original cast members of the long-running soap opera ''Shortland Street'', though she is also known for her role as the Amazon Ephiny in th ...
and
Joel Tobeck
Joel Tobeck (born 2 June 1971 in Auckland) is a New Zealand actor known for his roles in the television series ''Tangle (TV series), Tangle'', ''The Doctor Blake Mysteries'', ''Xena Warrior Princess'', ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', and '' ...
, was released theatrically in 23 countries and won nine awards at the
New Zealand Film Awards
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 awa ...
including Best Director and Best Film. It was a spin-off from his TV series of the same name, which was shown on
TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to:
Television
*Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso
* Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger
* Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala
* Can ...
in New Zealand and on
SBS in Australia. Each of the 41 episodes was only 4 minutes long, and featured a different song from
Flying Nun Records
Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringi ...
.
His second feature, ''
The Price of Milk
''The Price of Milk'' is a 2000 New Zealand romantic fantasy film. It was directed by New Zealand actor and director Harry Sinclair.
Plot
In rural New Zealand, a farmer, Rob (Karl Urban), gets engaged to his love, Lucinda (Danielle Cormack). Ho ...
'' (2000), starring Danielle Cormack and
Karl Urban
Karl-Heinz Urban (born 7 June 1972) is a New Zealand actor. His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and television series such as '' Xena: Warrior Princess''. His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film ''Ghost Ship''. ...
, was his only film to be released in the US, by Lot 47 Films. It won the Grand Prize at the
Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival
The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, formerly known as Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Inaugurated in 1997, the fe ...
(2001) and the Grand Prize at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival (2001).
His third feature was ''
Toy Love
Toy Love were a New Zealand New wave music, new wave and punk rock band that originated in Dunedin and was active from 1978 to 1980. Members included Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate and Paul Kean.
History
Chris Knox was the band's front man and ot ...
'' (2002) starring
Dean O'Gorman
Dean Lance O'Gorman (born 1 December 1976) is a New Zealand actor, artist, and photographer. He played the dwarf Fíli in the ''Hobbit'' trilogy and the Norse God Bragi/Anders Johnson in the fantasy series '' The Almighty Johnsons''. He also p ...
and
Kate Elliott.
His three feature films were made in an unconventional manner, with Sinclair casting his lead actors before writing the scripts. The stories were developed during video workshops with the actors, and the final scripts written during the shoots, allowing the stories to develop organically, building on what naturally developed between the actors.
Television
In 2009 and 2010, he was a regular director of the TV series ''
90210''.
The Builders Association
From 2006 to 2008 Sinclair collaborated with the New York-based theatre company Builders Association, touring internationally as an actor in their production ''Super Vision''. He co-wrote their next production, ''Continuous City'', which premiered in November 2008 at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues.
BAM was chartered in 18 ...
, and toured through 2010. He also played a lead role in ''Continuous City'', appearing only in projected film sequences.
Kiri and Lou
Sinclair is currently writing and directing an animated children's series, ''Kiri and Lou'', for Television New Zealand and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He is collaborating with animation director Ant Elworthy and composer Don McGlashan, and the series is produced by Fiona Copland.
Personal life
Sinclair lives in Los Angeles.
Filmography
References
External links
* http://harrysinclair.com/
Radio interview with Kim Hill, Radio New Zealand, 20 August 2011 (audio only)*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Harry
1959 births
Living people
New Zealand male film actors
New Zealand film directors
New Zealand musicians
Harry
Harry may refer to:
Television
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...