Bret McKenzie
Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie ONZM (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an oft-lauded American television series, which aired for two seasons on HBO. Active since 1998, the duo released their most recent comedy special, Live in London, in 2018.
Bret McKenzie
Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie
Rhymenoceros
29 June 1976
Wellington, New Zealand
- Musician
- songwriter
- comedian
- actor
- music supervisor
1994–present
Deirdre Tarrant (mother)
Peter McKenzie (father)
Primarily a musician, McKenzie has worked as a songwriter and music supervisor for film and television since the 2010s. He served as music supervisor for two Muppet films, The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014), the former of which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Man or Muppet". In the 2000s, McKenzie was part of reggae fusion band The Black Seeds and Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, and, in the 2010s, he began performing solo material. His debut album Songs Without Jokes was released in August 2022.
As an actor, he portrayed elves in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies: in the first he remained unnamed with fans naming him Figwit, a character originally cast as an extra who gained attention thanks to the trilogy's fan community. He later appears in The Hobbit as Lindir, a minor character who originally appears in the book of The Fellowship of the Ring.
Early life[edit]
McKenzie was born in Wellington to Peter McKenzie, a part-time actor, and Deirdre Tarrant, a contemporary dance teacher. He was raised in Kelburn with his brothers Justin and Jonny.[1] McKenzie attended Clifton Terrace Model School between 1982 and 1987[2] ("model" refers to a standard school for training teachers as opposed to modelling).[1] His classmates at the school included Antonia Prebble and Age Pryor.[1]
McKenzie then went on to Wellington College where he was a prefect and won the Wellington regional heats of the Smokefree Rockquest with his jazz and funk band, The Blue Samanthas.[1]
Personal life[edit]
He is married to New Zealand publicist Hannah Clarke[20][21] and currently maintains residences in Los Angeles, New York City, and Wellington. They have three children and mainly live in Wellington.[22]
In the 2012 Queen's Birthday and Diamond Jubilee Honours, McKenzie was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to music and film.[23]