Stuart Forbes Devenie is a New Zealand actor and theatre director, whose career spans three decades on stage and screen. He has performed in theatre productions nationally and internationally. In the 1980s, he was the artistic director of

Centrepoint Theatre Centrepoint Theatre is a theatre and theatre company in Palmerston North in New Zealand. Established in 1973, the theatre has employed more than 2500 actors and produced more New Zealand plays than any other theatre. History The theatre open ...

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

and has been a senior educator at Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School. In 2000, he founded Playfair Ltd theatre company.

Film and television

As an actor, Devenie is best known for a trio of appearances in

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

films - ''

Meet the Feebles ''Meet the Feebles'' (also known as ''Frogs of War'' in New Zealand as the film's English fake working title) is a 1989 New Zealand puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair ...

'' (1989), ''

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 ...

'' (1992 - known in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

as ''Dead Alive''), and '' The Frighteners'' (1996). His most memorable role may be that of Father McGruder in ''Braindead'', wherein he utters the line ''"I kick arse for the Lord!"''. In 2000, he appeared as Governor Croque in the short-lived Renaissance Pictures television series ''

Jack of All Trades Jack of all trades may refer to: * Jack of all trades, master of none, an aphorism *"Jack of All Trades", a term to reference one with the ability to be proficient in many areas of life Film and television * ''Jack of All Trades'' (TV series), an ...

'', alongside American actor

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film '' Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low- ...

. More recently he played the

Norse god In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peoples who inhabited Germanic Europe, there were a number of different gods and goddesses. Germanic deities are attested from numerous sources, including works of literature ...

Njord in ''

The Almighty Johnsons ''The Almighty Johnsons'' is a New Zealand fantasy comedy/drama television series, which was created by James Griffin and Rachel Lang and was produced by South Pacific Pictures and aired from 7 February 2011 to 23 September 2013. Production ...

''.

Theatre

Devenie has directed ''The Orderly Business of Life'' and ''The God Boy'' for

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 ...

. As an actor, he has played many lead roles and performed in major productions during his distinguished stage career from classical plays to contemporary and new New Zealand works. Productions include ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'', ''Caligula'', ''The Talented Mr Ripley'', ''Ladies Night'', ''Middle Age Spread'', ''Serial Killers'', ''

The Cripple of Inishmaan ''The Cripple of Inishmaan'' is a dark comedy by Martin McDonagh who links the story to the real life filming of the documentary '' Man of Aran''. The play is set on the small Aran Islands community of Inishmaan (Inis Meáin) off the Western ...

'', ''Twelve Angry Men'', ''Uncle Vanya'', ''Molly Sweeney'' and ''The Pohutukawa Tree''.

Honours

In the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

, Devenie 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 rend ...

for services to entertainment.

References

External links

*
Stuart Devenie's
info page on his Agent's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Devenie, Stuart Forbes Living people New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male television actors New Zealand theatre directors Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit 1951 births