Bret McKenzie

Bret McKenzie, 0 open letters

About Bret McKenzie
Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie, ONZM (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand comedian, actor, Academy Award-winning musician and producer, best known for being one half of the Grammy Award winning musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. McKenzie served as music supervisor for the 2011 film The Muppets, and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Man or Muppet".


Contents


1 Background
2 Personal life
3 Selected filmography
4 References
5 External links


Background[edit source | edit]
McKenzie was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He is a former member of The Black Seeds. He released an album called Prototype as Video Kid and is a member of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra. McKenzie attended Clifton Terrace Model School ("model" refers to a standard school for training teachers as opposed to modeling), Wellington College and then Victoria University of Wellington where he met Jemaine Clement who was also studying film and theatre. Together, they were members of So You're a Man and they later formed Flight of the Conchords.
As Flight of the Conchords they have toured internationally and released four CDs: Folk the World Tour in 2002,The Distant Future (which won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album) in 2007, the Grammy nominated Flight of the Conchords in 2008, and I Told You I Was Freaky in 2009. The Conchords produced a six-part improvisational comedy radio program for the BBC and have appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. After a successful appearance in 2005 on HBOs One Night Stand, the Conchords were offered their own 12-part HBO series Flight of the Conchords. Its first season ran from June to September 2007, and its second season premiered on HBO 18 January 2009.
McKenzie has appeared in the first and third films in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. His silent role in the first film as Figwit achieved some minor internet fame, which led to Jackson giving him a line in the third film. In April 2011, McKenzie was cast as the elf Lindir for The Hobbit. His father Peter McKenzie played the role of Elendil in Lord of the Rings.
Along with Clement, McKenzie was featured as one of 2008's "100 Sexiest People" in a special edition of the Australian magazine Who.
McKenzie and fellow Conchord Clement guest starred as a pair of camp counselors in "Elementary School Musical", the season premiere of the 22nd season of The Simpsons, which aired on 26 September 2010.
During the summer of 2010, McKenzie flew to Los Angeles to serve as the music supervisor for the The Muppets. He went on to write four of the five original songs from the film's soundtrack including "Man or Muppet" and "Life's a Happy Song" both of which were nominated for Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards and Satellite Awards for Best Original Song.
At the 84th Academy Awards in 2012 his song, "Man or Muppet", won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
McKenzie, together with Australian comedian Hamish Blake starred in a New Zealand feature film, Two Little Boys, finished in late 2011 and released in New Zealand on March 2012.
Personal life[edit source | edit]
He is married to New Zealand publicist Hannah Clarke and currently lives in Los Angeles, New York City and Wellington, New Zealand. They have two children; daughter Vita, born in 2009 and son Leo, born in 2011.
Selected filmography[edit source | edit]


Year
Title
Character
Format
Notes


2001
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Elf at Council of Elrond (Figwit)
Feature film
Uncredited


2003
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Elf Escort (Figwit)
Feature film



2007–2009
Flight of the Conchords
Bret McKenzie[10]
TV series
Also creator, co-writer, and executive producer


2008
The Drinky Crow Show
Rob, the Alien
TV series
Episodes: "Beer Goggles" and "Old Girlfriend"


2009
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

TV series
Episode: "Tennis"


Diagnosis Death
Dr. Cruise
Film



2010
The Simpsons
Kurt Hardwick
TV series
Episode: "Elementary School Musical"


2011
The Muppets

Feature Film
Music supervisor.[11] Original song, "Man or Muppet", won 2012 Academy Award for Best Original Song.


2012
Austenland
Martin
Feature Film



Two Little Boys
Nige
Feature Film



The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Lindir[12]
Feature Film
Actual character from The Fellowship of the Ring


2013
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lindir[12]
Feature Film
Actual character from The Fellowship of the Ring


2014
Muppets Most Wanted

Feature Film
Music supervisor.[13][14][15]


The Hobbit: There And Back Again
Lindir[12]
Feature Film
Actual character from The Fellowship of the Ring


References[edit source | edit]


^ "Video Kid". 
^ "Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra". 
^ a b Strachan, Alex (2 August 2010). "Gleeful over Glee: Cory Monteith to appear on The Simpsons". Canada.com. Retrieved 2010-08-02. 
^ http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/4442796/Conchords-star-flies-south-for-new-film
^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_Award_for_Best_Original_Song
^ Catanzariti, Katelyn (9 December 2010). "Hamish Blake to star with Bret McKenzie in Sarkies' Two Little Boys". The Daily Telegraph (Australia) (News Corporation). Retrieved 9 December 2010. 
^ Lewis, Rebecca (22 March 2009). "Bride of the Conchord - Bret marries childhood sweetheart". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2009-05-21. 
^ "Conchord has wings clipped". Fairfax New Zealand. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-17. 
^ Smith, Jacqueline (5 November 2009). "Fatherhood keeps 'Conchords' stars busy". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
^ Vernon, Polly (9 February 2008). "The accidental sex gods". The Observer. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 30 June 2013. 
^ Sternbergh, Adam (17 November 2011). "On Composing for Kermit the Frog". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 19 Nov 2011. 
^ a b c McNary, Dave (4 April 2011). "'Conchords' star McKenzie an elf in 'The Hobbit'". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 4 Apr 2011. 
^ Weintraub, Steve (5 November 2012). "THE MUPPETS Sequel Update: Filming Begins in Late January at Pinewood Studios in London; Bret McKenzie Writing New Songs". Collider. Demand Media Entertainment. Retrieved 7 Nov 2012. 
^ Fritz, Ben (15 January 2013). "Disney cancels 'Little Mermaid 3-D,' dates 'Pirates 5' for 2015". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 Jan 2013. 
^ Kit, Borys (8 January 2013). "Tina Fey in Talks to Join Disney's 'Muppets' Sequel (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 9 Jan 2013. 


External links[edit source | edit]

Bret McKenzie at the Internet Movie Database
Flight of the Conchords Official Site
What The Folk! Flight of the Conchords fan site
BBC Radio 2
Flight of the Conchords Official MySpace









v
t
e


Flight of the Conchords









Jemaine Clement
Bret McKenzie








Albums



Folk the World Tour
The Distant Future
Flight of the Conchords
I Told You I Was Freaky








Radio series (2005)



Additional writers
Joel Morris
Rhys Darby
Will Saunders
Additional cast
Rhys Darby
Emma Kennedy
Neil Finn








TV series episodes
(2007–2009)




Season 1



"Sally"
"Bret Gives Up the Dream"
"Mugged"
"Yoko"
"Sally Returns"
"Bowie"
"Drive By"
"Girlfriends"
"What Goes on Tour"
"New Fans"
"The Actor"
"The Third Conchord"








Season 2



"A Good Opportunity"
"The New Cup"
"The Tough Brets"
"Murray Takes It to the Next Level"
"Unnatural Love"
"Love Is a Weapon of Choice"
"Prime Minister"
"New Zealand Town"
"Wingmen"
"Evicted"











TV series crew



Co-creator
James Bobin
Additional writers
Taika Waititi
Eric Kaplan
Paul Simms
Duncan Sarkies
Damon Beesley
Iain Morris
Additional cast
Rhys Darby
Kristen Schaal
Arj Barker
Frank Wood
Eugene Mirman
David Costabile








Related articles



"Elementary School Musical"
Figwit
















v
t
e


Academy Award for Best Original Song (2011–2020)









"Man or Muppet"
Music and lyrics: Bret McKenzie (2011)
"Skyfall"
Music and lyrics: Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth (2012)











Complete list
(1934–1940)
(1941–1950)
(1951–1960)
(1961–1970)
(1971–1980)
(1981–1990)
(1991–2000)
(2001–2010)
(2011–2020)









From Wikipedia.

Celebs > B > Bret McKenzie

Brenton ThwaitesBret Roberts