Jane Campion is a New Zealand film director and writer who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The Piano in 1993. She also directed Bright Star.
Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton is best known for the highly publicized case surrounding the 1980 disappearance of her daughter Azaria, in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Joseph Gordon Coates was the prime minister of New Zealand 1925–1928, who later instituted rigorous policies to combat the economic depression of the 1930s.
Actor Russell Crowe won an Oscar for his performance in the 2000 blockbuster Gladiator and a nomination for his 2001 role in A Beautiful Mind.
20th century explorer and mountaineer Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the peak of Mt. Everest along with fellow climber Tenzing Norgay.
New Zealand native Peter Jackson is best known as a director for his adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, which has won 11 Oscars.
New Zealand–born singer Kimbra is known for her fusion of musical styles and for her vocals on Gotye's hit "Somebody That I Used to Know."
Arthur Leslie Lydiard is a former marathon runner from from New Zealand and a coach of Olympic gold medalists. He popularized jogging in the 1960s.
Writer Katherine Mansfield is best known for creating the story collections Bliss and The Garden Party.
Physicist Ernest Rutherford was the central figure in the study of radioactivity who led the exploration of nuclear physics.
Kate Sheppard was a leader in the New Zealand women's suffrage movement, helping women gain the right to vote in New Zealand.
Grammy-award winning country music singer, songwriter and guitarist Keith Urban was named the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year in 2006.