Katie Wolfe (born 1968) is New Zealand actor and film and stage director. She was in the New Zealand television series ''

Marlin Bay ''Marlin Bay'' was a New Zealand one-hour drama television series which ran for 39 episodes from 1992 to 1994. The series was set in a fictional resort and casino in the picturesque far north of New Zealand. The series dealt with issues regarding ...

'' in the 1990s, ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

'' in the late 1990s and ''

Mercy Peak ''Mercy Peak'' was a New Zealand television series that ran for three seasons on local network TV One, between 2001 and 2004. The series rated well in New Zealand (especially in its second series) and won multiple awards for its cast. Though an ...

'' for two years (2000 - 2001). Her screen directing work has won several awards including ''Redemption'' at the

ImagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, held annually in Toronto in the month of October. The festival focuses on the film, video, radio, and new media work of Indigenous, Abori ...

and ''This Is Her'' at the Prague International Short Film Festival. Her current creative work is writing and directing a stage play called ''The Haka Party Incident,'' produced by the

Auckland Theatre Company Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) is a professional theatre company in Auckland. It was founded in 1992 and since 2016 has been based in ASB Waterfront Theatre in the Wynyard Quarter in central Auckland. History Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) w ...

and programmed by festivals through New Zealand across 2020 - 2022.

Biography

Katie Wolfe was born in New Plymouth in 1968, the daughter of

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

and Raewyn Wolfe and has three siblings. She is affiliated with the

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

Ngāti Mutunga Ngāti Mutunga is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, whose original tribal lands were in north Taranaki. They migrated from Taranaki, first to Wellington (with Ngāti Toa and other Taranaki Hāpu), and then to the Chatham Islands (along wit ...

and

Ngāti Tama Ngāti Tama is a historic Māori iwi of present-day New Zealand which whakapapas back to Tama Ariki, the chief navigator on the Tokomaru waka. The iwi of Ngati Tama is located in north Taranaki around Poutama. The Mōhakatino river marks the ...

. In 1986 she enrolled at Victoria University and graduated with a BA in English. She graduated from New Zealand acting school Toi Whakaari in 1990.

Career

Wolfes first professional acting job was at Dunedin's

Fortune Theatre The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre on Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. Since 1989 the theatre has hosted the long running play ''The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by author, playw ...

, followed by several episodes of NHNZ's children's nature series ''Wild Track'', as the presenter. Her first television role was in 1992 as Ginny Gannaway on the series ''

'', a role which lasted three years, and her big screen debut was in ''The Last Tattoo'' (1994) directed by John Reid, in which she played the New Zealand missing girlfriend of an American World War II soldier . Wolfe has directed film and theatre. Her first two short films ''This is Her'' and ''Redemption'' both premiered at Sundance, and went on to screen in

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

, New York and Telluride. Her first feature-length film, titled '' Kawa'', was an adaptation of

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in literat ...

's book, ''Nights in the Gardens of Spain''. Wolfe joined seven other Māori women to direct the omnibus film, ''Waru'' (2017). Each woman contributed a 10-minute segment of events circling around the tangi of a boy named Waru. After its debut at the 2017

New Zealand International Film Festival New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, ''Waru'' screened at the

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and ImagineNATIVE festivals. Live plays Wolfe has directed include ''The Haka Party Incident'' a play about race relations based on a true event at Auckland University in 1979 when a group of engineering students doing a mock haka were finally challenged Māori activists. Wolfe also wrote this work and first showed a development of it in 2017. It is programmed in the New Zealand Festival in 2022. It has been programmed by a number of festivals throughout New Zealand (Te Tairāwhiti Festival, Auckland Festival, Tauranga Arts Festival, RESET Festival in Taranaki, Nelson Arts Festival) but has not always been able to be presented due to Covid 19 restrictions.

Filmography - screen credits

Film

Television

Other work

Theatre

Directing

Wolfe has directed a number of plays including: * ''Luncheon'' (2014) by

Aroha Awarau Aroha Edward Awarau (born Hāwera, New Zealand) is a journalist and playwright. He won the 2008 New Zealand Magazine Journalist of the Year (Mass Market) at the annual Magazine Publisher's Association Award. He was a finalist again for the same ...

, at the Basement Theatre, Auckland. Starring

Jennifer Ward-Lealand ' Jennifer Cecily Ward-Lealand (born 8 November 1962) is a New Zealand theatre and film actor, director, teacher and intimacy coordinator. She has worked for 40 years, appearing in over 120 theatre performances: Greek, Shakespeare, drama, come ...

*''The Haka Party Incident'' (2017) written and directed by Katie Wolfe. Verbatim theatre, produced by

. *''Anahera'' (2017) by Emma Kinane. Circa Theatre, Wellington. *''The Haka Party Incident'' (2020) (revision) written and directed by Katie Wolfe. Produced by Auckland Theatre Company.

Acting Roles

Awards and nominations

Personal life

Wolfe married fellow actor

Tim Balme Timothy Guy Balme (born 18 January 1967) is a New Zealand actor and screenwriter. He's most well known for his roles on the long-running soap opera ''Shortland Street'' and '' Mercy Peak'', as well as lead roles in the cult favourites '' Braind ...

in 1994, and together they have two children. Wolfe also has a step-son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfe, Katie 1968 births Living people New Zealand actresses New Zealand women film directors Toi Whakaari alumni Māori-language film directors