Patricia Rongomaitara "Ramai" Hayward (née Te Miha, 11 November 1916 – 3 July 2014) was a New Zealand photographer, actor, and filmmaker who made films in five countries. Her film career began in 1940 when she co-starred in the historical movie ''

Rewi's Last Stand ''Rewi's Last Stand'' is the title of two feature films directed by pioneering New Zealand filmmaker Rudall Hayward: a 1925 silent movie, and 1940 remake with sound. They are historical dramas, based on the last stand of Rewi Maniapoto at the B ...

'', after meeting her future husband, legendary New Zealand director

Rudall Hayward Rudall Charles Victor Hayward (4 July 1900 – 29 May 1974) was a pioneer New Zealand filmmaker from the 1920s to the 1970s, who directed seven feature films and numerous others. Biography Hayward was born in Wolverhampton, England, and died i ...

. The first

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

, she spent three years making films in England with Rudall. Later the couple were the first to make English language films in China after the

communist revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution often, but not necessarily, inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, socialism can be used as an intermediate stage ...

Early life and family

Hayward was born in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

town of

Martinborough Martinborough ( mi, Wharekaka) is a town in the South Wairarapa District, in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It is 65 kilometres east of Wellington and 35 kilometres south-west of Masterton. The town has a resident population of The town ...

in 1916, the daughter of Roihi Te Miha and Fred Mawhiney, a motor mechanic. She affiliated to the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...

and

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...

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, an ...

(tribes). Her father served in the

New Zealand Machine Gun Corps The New Zealand Machine Gun Corps was an administrative corps of the New Zealand Military Forces during the First World War. It was formed in early 1916, following the Gallipoli campaign in response to a need for more effective machine gun support ...

and died of wounds in Belgium in 1917. In 1917 her mother married Jim Miller, and Hayward was subsequently known as Patricia Miller for a period. Ramai was raised by her grandmother and great-grandfather, Huria Te Miha and Hemi Te Miha, in

Pirinoa Pirinoa is a rural community east of Lake Wairarapa, in the South Wairarapa District and Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. It includes the rural settlement of Pirinoa, and the coastal settlement of Whāngaimoana. Marae Kohunui Ma ...

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

until Huria passed away in 1920. Afterwards, she relocated to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

where her mother and step-father lived.

Career

Ramai trained in stills photography when she became an apprentice to French photographer Henri Harrison in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. In the 1930s she set up her own photography studio in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, and soon had eight employees. In the late 30s she met director Rudall Hayward, after he cast her as the romantic lead in a remake of his 1925 silent movie ''

''. Both films were inspired by conflicts during the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...

. In 1946 the couple, now married, traveled to England, where they spent around three years. Ramai learnt to operate the sound camera that Rudall had developed back in New Zealand. She was one of the few women working professionally as a

in the United Kingdom in this period. The couple also made films in Australia, Albania, and China. In the 1950s, based again in New Zealand but marketing their films around the world, they began two decades of making scenic films, a series of educational films, and a short film on

Opo the dolphin Opo was a bottlenose dolphin who became famous throughout New Zealand during the summer of 1955/56 for playing with the children of the small town of Opononi on the Hokianga harbour. Opo was a wild dolphin that started following fishing boats arou ...

. Ramai's contribution ranged across shooting, scripting, editing, and co-directing, but as Rudall got older, Ramai took on increasing responsibilities. Some say she was the primary force on their final feature film, 1972's ''

To Love a Maori ''To Love a Maori'' is a 1972 New Zealand film about an interracial romance. It was the seventh and last feature from Rudall Hayward. Synopsis Two young Maori men, Tama and Riki move to Auckland. They then face racial discrimination, especially ...

'', which was the first local dramatic feature shot in colour. Rudall died in 1974. In her later years, Ramai continued to take occasional acting roles. She was also active in advocating land rights pertaining to her iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu around Pirinoa. In the early 1990s, Hayward reportedly refused a damehood after taking part in years of protests, over Government plans to sell

Cape Palliser Lighthouse Cape Palliser Lighthouse is a lighthouse at Cape Palliser in the Wellington region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is owned and operated by Maritime New Zealand. The light was built in 1897 and was originally fueled by oil. In 1954 the ...

and surrounding lands to overseas buyers. She died in July 2014.

Honours

In the

2006 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2006 in some Commonwealth realms were announced (on 31 December 2005) in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Saint Christopher and Nevis to cel ...

, Hayward was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to film and television.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayward, Ramai 1916 births 2014 deaths 20th-century New Zealand actresses 21st-century New Zealand actresses People from Martinborough Ngāi Tahu people Ngāti Kahungunu people New Zealand Māori actresses Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand film directors Indigenous filmmakers in New Zealand New Zealand photographers New Zealand women film directors