# Famous New Zealanders that an American would know **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562 "2005-05-12T14:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/41 "2005-05-17T03:22:13Z")
Ooh! Ooh! Aside from Peter Jackson, I also know Katherine Mansfield. I like her stuff a lot. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/42 "2005-05-17T03:39:35Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Anna Paquin. > > She of the Piano and X-Men. > > Lucy Lawless. ZENA! Was that anything like, ohhhh… XENA??? _G_ ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/43 "2005-05-17T05:06:06Z")
I am aware of an infamous New Zealander. Well, I guess officially he is an American expat. There’s this guy, and I can’t think of his name (I’ve tried googling but can’t find the story!) who got in some minor trouble a few years ago in New Zealand and it was discovered that he was an AWOL Vietnam soldier from Toledo, OH who had been living in New Zealand for the last 30 years or so. I believe that officially he had been counted MIA and has a Wife, Mother, Daughter, and family here that he just abandoned and who believed he had been dead all these years. It lead to a reunion and a primetime news special and all that but for some reason I can’t find anything on the net, anybody remember his name? I believe he is still living in New Zealand. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/44 "2005-05-17T08:36:47Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > I’ll try it again in this thread. > > John Clarke Is that Fred Dagg? I doubt that any Americans know of him. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/45 "2005-05-17T09:33:02Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > Is that Fred Dagg? I doubt that any Americans know of him. The one and only. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/46 "2005-05-17T19:56:15Z")
Of the top of me head Writers Jane Campion Dame Ngaio Marsh Musicians Finn Brothers - Split Enz/Crowded House Explorers/Old Farts Sir Edmund Hillary Lord Rutherford Artists Frances Hodgkins Enretainment Peter Jackson Dame Kiri Te Kanawa(yes, I’m gay) Xena(Lucy Loveless) Sam Neill Anna Paquin Kevin Smith(Xena’s Mars) Rachel Hunter ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/47 "2005-05-17T21:06:27Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > [Richard Pearse](https://http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Pearse-FlyingMachine/info/info.htm) was a calm Kiwi 🙂 And the first kiwi to ever achieve flight. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/48 "2005-05-17T21:17:52Z")
> [@jastu](#): > > Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race. Reeeeally? That answers a few questions I’ve had. In the four Races I’ve seen, totalling a good two years, I’ve never been able to place that bare edge of an accent of his. ---
**Author:** ![Anaptyxis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anaptyxis/32/3171_2.png) [@Anaptyxis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaptyxis)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/49 "2005-05-18T01:56:59Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > Is that Fred Dagg? I doubt that any Americans know of him. Hey, I do. But one (well, two if you count my SO) still ain’t a lot. And thanks to my deep obsession with things Finn, I am a little more informed about Antipodean goings-on than the average Yank. For example, I read the [ANZAC Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=313632) about John Howard with great interest 🙂 Man, I wish I could watch “The Games” series again… great Og that had me laughing until I was sick. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/50 "2005-05-18T09:29:21Z")
I’m forgetting David Low, perhaps the greatest newspaper cartoonist of the 30’s and 40’s. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/51 "2005-05-18T12:28:31Z")
Steriogram. Well they were nominated for a grammy/emmy (whatever the music one is ) Not that it is famous outside of NZ but we were the first country to give women the vote, that has to mean something! Oppps sorry about the Xena thing. ---
**Author:** ![Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/db5fbb/32.png) [@Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/52 "2005-05-18T16:58:36Z")
I know of Kirk Penney, who played basketball at the University of Wisconsin (and was a 1st Team All-Big Ten player his final year). His NBA career has amounted to 5-6 games over the past 2-3 years. He also plays for the Tall Blacks, New Zealand’s national basketball team. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/53 "2005-05-18T17:15:25Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > Is that Fred Dagg? I doubt that any Americans know of him. I’ve never seen him doing Fred Dagg, just seen the name from looking up John Clarke on the 'net, but the local PBS station in Boston has run _The Games_ a couple times and it may be the funniest comedy series I’ve ever seen. **Anaptyxis** , the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) online store has the first series of _The Games_ available as a regionless DVD. Shipping might take a while, though; I ordered mine seven weeks ago and still haven’t gotten it. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/54 "2005-05-18T23:00:27Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > I’ve never seen him doing Fred Dagg, just seen the name from looking up John Clarke on the 'net, but the local PBS station in Boston has run _The Games_ a couple times and it may be the funniest comedy series I’ve ever seen. Fred Dagg was a send-up of a stereotypical Kiwi cow-cocky, who was given to bizarre home-spun philosophising. John Clarke’s also an excellent comic writer: he put out this brilliant book of poems, re-writing everyone from Robert Herrick to Leonard Cohen: In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure dome decree Till Alf, the chief surveyor, said “You can’t build that. It contravenes The Act of '63.” Alf then goes on for about six stanzas to explain why the pleasure dome violates the local building codes. ---
**Author:** ![Anaptyxis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anaptyxis/32/3171_2.png) [@Anaptyxis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaptyxis)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/55 "2005-05-19T15:46:18Z")
Thanks to **Montgomery Burns** , I was reminded of [Sean Marks](http://www.nba.com/playerfile/sean_marks/), who plays for the San Antonio Spurs. He’s a benchwarmer, though… and I had to Google him so maybe that defeats the whole purpose of the thread Ooh, I just remembered the band OMC. They had a great single, “How Bizarre,” back in 1997 that got good radio play here in the US. Hey **Robot Arm** , let me know if you ever get that DVD and if you can indeed play it. I’ve gotta get myself a copy of that. ---
**Author:** ![Owlett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e95f7d/32.png) [@Owlett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Owlett)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/56 "2005-05-19T17:33:37Z")
I can’t let this thread pass without adding Ryan Nelsen, captain of the Major League Soccer team (DC United) that won last year’s championship. He’s now in England, playing for Blackburn Rovers, I believe. Of course, he goes in the category of people whom an American “should” know rather than “would” know (but then, that’s true for Major League Soccer as well). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/57 "2005-05-20T05:06:25Z")
[John Walker](http://www.olympic.org.nz/AthleteProfile.aspx?ID=357&UICode=Athletes&ContactID=1171) once held the world record in the mile run and took the gold at 1500 meters at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. As the article mentions, he led a triumvirate of Kiwi distance runners of the '70’s that also featured Dick Quax and Rod Dixon. [Megan Compain](http://www.kiwihoops.co.nz/profiles_compain_2004.htm) was a star for the St. Joseph’s University Hawks, and briefly played in the Women’s National Basketball Association during that league’s inaugural season. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/58 "2005-06-25T21:21:58Z")
Michael Campbell ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/59 "2005-06-25T22:47:34Z")
Steve Williams who caddies for Tiger Woods Nathan Haines - jazz musician who lives in New York John Britten - motorcyle designer Jeane Batten - aviatrix Hayley Westenra - massively overated singer Kylie Bax - model famous for being ‘friends’ with Trump Bruce McLaren - McLaren F1 Racing ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562/60 "2005-06-27T02:15:11Z")
Peter Snell Murray Halberg. Just two of my idols. Distance runners and Olympic gold medallists, they. I was going to add Ron Clarke but is he merely Australian? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-new-zealanders-that-an-american-would-know/303562.md?page=4)