Tauwhare, Hira
aka Hira Talfrey
New Zealand born actress who went to England in the late 1950s where she worked for several decades on stage, TV and in film including:
The Pohutukawa Tree (1959)
Death of a Ghost (1960)
International Detective (1960)
Top Secret (1961)
The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
The House Under the Water (1961)
Rashomon (1961)
Man of the World 1962
A World Inside 1962
The Avengers (1962) ep. The Removal Men
Jane Eyre (1963)
Boyd Q.C. (1963)
ITV Play of the Week - Blithe Spirit (1963)
Moonstrike (1963)
Drama 61-67 (1964)
The Crunch (1964)
Seeing and Believing (1965)
Sky West and Crooked (1965) aka Gypsy Girl - Film
Boys Meets Girl (1967) Ep. Love with a Few Hairs
Man in a Suitcase (1967) ep. The Man who Stood Still
Great Expectations (1967)
Theatre 625 (1968)
Witchfinder General (1968) - Film
The Wednesday Play (1968)
Theatre 625: The Year of the Sex Olympics (1968)
The Oblong Box (1969) - Film
The Runaway Summer (1971) - Film
The Savage (1977)
Omnibus (1978) ep. Paul Gauguin: The Savage and the Construction of Paradise
Several film/tv sites report she died October 3, 2011 in New Zealand.
MAORI ACTRESS IN N.Z. PLAY ON B.B.C. TV
[From the London Correspondent of "The Press"]
LONDON, October 8 1959. Two years ago Hira Tauwhare was rehearsing for her first professional stage role in the New Zealand Players’ production of Bruce Mason’s play “The Pohutukawa Tree.” The play ran in Wellington and Auckland. Now she is rehearsing for the same principal role in the B.B.C. television version of the play for transmission on Sunday, October 18.
“I came to London to act and this has been a wonderful break,” she said last evening. Three weeks ago Miss Tauwhare, who is 33, had an early morning job supervising West End office cleaners. When she arrived in London from New Zealand last June, determined to find work as an actress, agents told her that she must master dialects and accents.
The cleaning job helped. She set off for Piccadilly Circus at 5 o’clock each morning, finished work at 10 a.m., and spent the day visiting agents and theatre contacts. The offer by the B.B.C. to test her for the part of Aroha Mataira in “The Pohutukawa Tree” was her first opportunity to act in London and is only her second professional role.
Older and established actresses were considered for the part of the 60-year-old Māori woman but Miss Tauwhare’s special Māori qualities and ability to act the part of a woman almost twice her age assured her of the role.
“She is a very clever actress,” said the producer, Mr John Jacobs, who has been rehearsing the cast daily from 10.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. in a South London boys’ club hall.
Hira Tauwhare (pronounced more or less, “Talfrey," says a B.B.C. notice) was born at Waiwhetu. Her father was a Māori and her mother a German. Before coming to London Miss Tauwhare ran her own beauty salon in Wellington.
A childhood interest in drama led her into repertory and little theatre in Masterton, Martinborough, Blenheim and Wellington, to parts in New Zealand Broadcasting Service plays and to the Mataira role in “The Pohutukawa Tree” during which she became a friend of the author. “I think he has written a wonderful play,” she said.
“This is more exhausting work than rehearsing for the stage,” said Miss Tauwhare. “I find television needs a more psychological, less physical technique than the theatre, a greater depth of thought and feeling. Tomorrow I die—all day. It should be much more restful.”
Her sister, Nona, a nurse who has been in Britain for two year, and her brother, Squadron Leader A. L. Tauwhare, R.A.F., will be watching the play in London.
“No, I am not planning to return to New Zealand,” said Miss Tauwhare. “I don’t know what will happen next I would like to get a part in repertory.”
About 45 minutes have been cut from the original of the play version for the television performance. The main character is Aroha Mataira, a Māori woman involved, with her children, in a clash between the culture, background and colour of her own race and the temptations and encroachments of her European neighbours.
Other New Zealanders in the cast are Redmond Phillips, Noel Trevarthen, and Terence Bayler and his wife Bridget Armstrong, both formerly with the New Zealand Players. The rest of the cosmopolitan cast includes a South African of Spanish and Malayan parentage (Norman Florence), and a young English actress born in India (Hermione Gregory) who are cast with astonishing effectiveness as Mrs Mataira’s children. Several Australians are playing other European roles.
“This is an unusual Sunday night play,” said the top B.B.C. producer, John Jacobs, interviewed after a rehearsal. “We have no stars. I think we are doing it the New Zealand way, as a friendly, family group, and I am sure it will be a success. It should interest people on many levels—the religious and personal issues and the colour problem. I believe that without knowing it Bruce Mason has written a very good television play. Its conflict and emotions make good television.”
New Zealand House was called in to advise and help with properties. The whole cast, was shown the New Zealand’ film “Broken Barrier” (Terence Bayler had a leading role in that film made 10 years ago) and much study went into the background of the play. “It is something different,” Said Mr Jacobs. “And it will be more exciting because we have a Māori actress.".
Gauguin Script
Listed for sale on ebay in 2025 - an original 7 page shooting script belonging to actress Hira Talfrey heavily annotated in the text by her consisting of the portion of the teleplay which has her part. Apparently, a television film dealing with the life of artist Paul Gauguin. This script deals with Polynesian characters with the text in both English and presumably Tahitian. Accompanied by an 8 page studio production shooting schedule.
