April 7, 2025
RNZ News, 8:01 pm on 6 April 2025
Renowned actor and theatre director Raymond Hawthorne dies aged 88
Raymond Hawthorne. Photo: Supplied / Auckland Theatre Company
Actor and theatre director Raymond Hawthorne has died aged 88.
Hawthorne became a member of the country’s first major professional theatre company – the New Zealand Players – in 1955, and two years later he was granted a bursary to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
He founded Auckland’s Theatre Corporate in 1974, and was appointed director of Mercury Theatre in 1985, where he directed many plays, operas and musicals.
He subsequently acted in and directed several Auckland Theatre Company productions.
Hawthorne was appointed head of Unitec’s School of Performing and Screen Arts in 2003.
He also had stints directing Opera New Zealand and was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to theatre.
Morning Report, 7 April 2025: Actor Jennifer Ward-Lealand spoke to Alexa Cook.
https://thebigidea.nz/stories/a-titan-of-theatre-tributes-flow-for-raymond-hawthorne
Comments