Personal Info

Known For

Writing

Gender

Female

Birthday

null

Place of Birth

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Fiona Samuel

Biography

Fiona Samuel began as an actor, and filled the downtime with writing. She has gone on to write scripts, direct, co-host arts show The Big Art Trip, and act in everything from Close to Home to Footrot Flats. With 2011 TV movie Bliss, she became the only woman in over two decades to win awards for directing a New Zealand television drama. Samuel was born in Scotland: her parents were Kiwis travelling on their OE. While growing up in Christchurch, she was encouraged to enter speech and drama competitions by her "very clever and creative mother". As she says in this 2019 Funny As interview, Wellington drama school Toi Whakaari was "my plan A, B and C. I had no other plan." After graduating, she toured New Zealand, playing feisty twin sister to Miranda Harcourt in hit play Oracles and Miracles. Starting in 1981 with soap Close to Home, Samuel was learning about the demands of acting for the screen — where the camera is king, but the actor must give no hint of knowing it exists. Next came TV play Casualties of Peace, a scene in yokels comedy Carry Me Back, and a role in car chase romp Shaker Run as 'Casey's Girl' — partner to 1970s heartthrob Leif Garrett. She also impressed in Kathy Dudding adoption short Smash Dupe. In 1986 Samuel supplied two voices for hit movie Footrot Flats: hairdresser and "sex bomb" ‘Cheeky' Hobson, and freckle-faced kid Pongo.

Known for

Blue Murder Motel

When an Aussie cop couple trade their badges for a quiet life managing a beachside motel in New Zealand, they plan to leave police work behind them - that is until crime comes to them.

Jack of All Trades

American spy Jack Stiles teams with British agent Emilia Rothschild to thwart Napoleon's advances in the East Indies.

Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale

Dog lives with his owner Wal on a farm. While the good-natured Wal dreams of becoming a famous rugby player, Dog has other things on his mind: The ruthless Murphys have stolen an award-winning breeding stag from Wal’s best friend, Andy. Together with his friend, Dog sets out on a perilous mission to free all the captive animals from the Murphys’ farm.

Stroke

In a world where security is fleeting and momentary... Dorothy has a safe spot... the middle of an empty swimming pool. Suddenly a team intent on training appears and a drama of epic proportions ensues.

Who Laughs Last?

This Artsville documentary profiles Roger Hall, New Zealand’s most successful playwright. Three decades after Hall's early play Middle Age Spread became a hit, the original cast return for 2006 follow-up Spreading Out. Director Shirley Horrocks explores the secrets behind Hall’s successful brand of comedy (which includes dozens of stage plays, and TV hit Gliding On), while closely exploring Middle Age Spread and Spreading Out. Alongside excerpts from both, there are interviews with John Clarke, Grant Tilly, Ginette McDonald on Hall's role in the birth of her character Lynn of Tawa, and Hall himself.

Love Mussel

In this mockumentary, Kevin Smith plays himself covering the story of a New Zealand town after the discovery that a local shellfish, the geoduck (pronounced "gooey duck") has the properties of Viagra.