{"id":32191,"date":"2025-11-08T19:28:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T00:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191"},"modified":"2025-11-08T19:28:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T00:28:51","slug":"new-zealand-born-director-lee-tamahori-dies-at-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand-Born Director Lee Tamahori Dies at 75"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Photo by Zade Rosenthal – \u00a9\u00a0ILM\/Revolution Studios<\/p>\r\n

New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori<\/a> has died at the age of 75 after struggling with Parkinson\u2019s disease.

In a statement to RNZ, New Zealand\u2019s public-service broadcaster, his family declared: \u201cHis legacy endures with his wh\u0101nau, his mokopuna, every filmmaker he inspired, every boundary he broke and every story he told with his genius eye and honest heart.\u201d (Wh\u0101nau and mokopuna are indigenous words relating to the Maori people\u2019s extended family.) They added that Tamahori was both \u201ca charismatic leader and fierce creative spirit\u201d who \u201cchampioned Maori talent both on- and offscreen.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Born in Wellington in 1950 to a father with Maori roots and a mother with British ones, Warren Lee Tamahori told interviewers that movies had been in his blood from his earliest years, when he would skip school to watch action films and American Westerns. \u201cThat\u2019s what I did in my youth, sneaked into every movie I wasn\u2019t allowed to see, and that\u2019s how I became a filmmaker,\u201d he recalled. Tamahori turned to directing in the 1980s after beginning his career as a commercial artist and photographer. He established Flying Fish as his production company and directed a short film Thunderbox<\/strong> <\/em>in 1989.

Lee Tamahori first came to international prominence in 1994 when he directed Once Were Warriors<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, a film that debuted at Cannes and that cast a critical lens on gangs and domestic violence within the Maori community.<\/p>\r\n

<\/ins>\u00a0

After the success of that film, he directed several hard-hitting films in Hollywood, including The Edge<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (1997), Die Another Day<\/strong><\/em><\/a> (2002), xXx: State of the Union<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, and Next<\/strong> <\/em><\/a>(2007). The Edge<\/strong> <\/em>was a survival drama written by David Mamet and that starred Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. Die Another Day<\/strong><\/em> was a James Bond film with Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry. xXx: State of the Union<\/strong><\/em> was a political thriller starring William Dafoe, Samuel L Jackson, and Ice Cube, while Next<\/strong> <\/em>was a sci-fi thriller with Nicholas Cage in the lead role. Other of his film credits include Mulholland Falls<\/strong><\/em> (1996), Along Came a Spider<\/strong><\/em> (2001) and The Devil\u2019s Double<\/strong><\/em> (2011). He also directed episodes of The Sopranos<\/strong><\/em> and Billions<\/strong><\/em>

Some of Tamahori\u2019s recent films marked a return to his Maori roots, such as The Patriarch<\/strong> (2016) and\u00a0The Convert<\/strong><\/em> (2023). Set in the nineteenth century, The Convert<\/strong><\/em> starred Guy Pearce as a British missionary who gets embroiled in violence between warring Maori tribes.

Tamahori is survived by his second wife Justine, children Sam, Max, Meka and Tan\u00e9, as well as daughter-in-laws Casey and Meri and his grandchild Cora Lee.

Click here for more articles by Edward.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/ins>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by Zade Rosenthal – \u00a9\u00a0ILM\/Revolution Studios New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has died at the age of 75 after struggling with Parkinson\u2019s disease. In a statement to RNZ, New Zealand\u2019s public-service broadcaster, his family declared: \u201cHis legacy endures with his wh\u0101nau, his mokopuna, every filmmaker he inspired, every boundary he broke and every story…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,20471],"tags":[9144,28804,28805,15930,25397,28807,28806,14502],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Zealand-Born Director Lee Tamahori Dies at 75 | Cinema Daily US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lee Tamahori : New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has died at the age of 75 after struggling with Parkinson\u2019s disease.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Zealand-Born Director Lee Tamahori Dies at 75 | Cinema Daily US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lee Tamahori : New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has died at the age of 75 after struggling with Parkinson\u2019s disease.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cinema Daily US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-09T00:28:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lee-Tamahori.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"942\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"704\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edward Moran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Edward Moran\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191\",\"name\":\"New Zealand-Born Director Lee Tamahori Dies at 75 | Cinema Daily US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lee-Tamahori.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-09T00:28:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-09T00:28:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bf0a19223aa026749c276918426a5bc\"},\"description\":\"Lee Tamahori : New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has died at the age of 75 after struggling with Parkinson\u2019s disease.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lee-Tamahori.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lee-Tamahori.png\",\"width\":942,\"height\":704,\"caption\":\"Lee Tamahori\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Zealand-Born Director Lee Tamahori Dies at 75\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/\",\"name\":\"Cinema Daily US\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bf0a19223aa026749c276918426a5bc\",\"name\":\"Edward Moran\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Edward-Moran-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Edward-Moran-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Edward Moran\"},\"description\":\"Edward Moran began his journalistic career many decades ago as a theater and cinema reviewer for Show Business and the New York Theater Review. More recently he contributed film reviews to hosokinema.com and Movie Sleuth. His writings have appeared in publications as diverse as the Times Literary Supplement, Publishers Weekly, the Paris Review, and the Massachusetts Review. Moran also edited a memoir by Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Christine Choy. He served as literary advisor to her film Hyam Plutzik: American Poet, which was the keynote film in the American Perspectives series at the 2007 Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.cinemadailyus.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Zealand-Born Director Lee Tamahori Dies at 75 | Cinema Daily US","description":"Lee Tamahori : New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has died at the age of 75 after struggling with Parkinson\u2019s disease.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Zealand-Born Director Lee Tamahori Dies at 75 | Cinema Daily US","og_description":"Lee Tamahori : New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has died at the age of 75 after struggling with Parkinson\u2019s disease.","og_url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191","og_site_name":"Cinema Daily US","article_published_time":"2025-11-09T00:28:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":942,"height":704,"url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lee-Tamahori.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Edward Moran","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Edward Moran","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191","name":"New Zealand-Born Director Lee Tamahori Dies at 75 | Cinema Daily US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lee-Tamahori.png","datePublished":"2025-11-09T00:28:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-09T00:28:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bf0a19223aa026749c276918426a5bc"},"description":"Lee Tamahori : New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has died at the age of 75 after struggling with Parkinson\u2019s disease.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lee-Tamahori.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Lee-Tamahori.png","width":942,"height":704,"caption":"Lee Tamahori"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=32191#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Zealand-Born Director Lee Tamahori Dies at 75"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/","name":"Cinema Daily US","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8bf0a19223aa026749c276918426a5bc","name":"Edward Moran","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Edward-Moran-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Edward-Moran-150x150.jpg","caption":"Edward Moran"},"description":"Edward Moran began his journalistic career many decades ago as a theater and cinema reviewer for Show Business and the New York Theater Review. More recently he contributed film reviews to hosokinema.com and Movie Sleuth. His writings have appeared in publications as diverse as the Times Literary Supplement, Publishers Weekly, the Paris Review, and the Massachusetts Review. Moran also edited a memoir by Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Christine Choy. He served as literary advisor to her film Hyam Plutzik: American Poet, which was the keynote film in the American Perspectives series at the 2007 Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.cinemadailyus.com"],"url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}