Profile Text
Curtis in 2010, photo by Prphotos.com
Birth Name: Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis
Place of Birth: Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
Date of Birth: 27 July, 1968
Ethnicity: Māori, as well as English, Irish, Swedish, and French
Cliff Curtis is a Māori actor from New Zealand. Known for playing a diverse array of ethnic and national backgrounds, his roles include the films Once Were Warriors , Three Kings , The Insider , Training Day , Collateral Damage , Whale Rider , Runaway Jury , Live Free or Die Hard , Sunshine (2007), Colombiana , A Thousand Words , The Dark Horse , The Meg , Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw , Doctor Sleep , Avatar: The Way of Water , and True Spirit , and the series Trauma , Body of Proof , Missing , and Fear the Walking Dead , among many other works.
He is affiliated with the Ngāti Pikiao and Te Arawa. Both of his parents are of Māori and European descent. His uncle was educator and Māori leader Sir Toby Curtis.
He is married and has three children.
Cliff’s paternal grandfather likely was Thomas Tame Pikikotuku Ihaia Curtis (the son of Richard William Curtis Rowe and Puhiawe Pihoihoi Katene). Thomas was born in Rotoiti, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Richard was born in Irelands Eye, County Dublin, Ireland. Puhiawe was born in Rotorua, New Zealand, the daughter of Te Katene and Ngaki Te Pikikotuku, who was from Ngaki Pikiao.
Cliff’s paternal grandmother likely was named Makarena Anahera Tukuru/Tu Kuru.
Cliff’s maternal grandfather was Hector Kelvin O’Halloran (the son of Hector Joseph O’Halloran and Mary Ann “Merama” Lipsey). Hector was the son of Eugene Edward O’Halloran, whose parents were from Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, and of Hildagarde “Hilda” Ulrica Douglass, whose father was from Stockholm, Sweden and whose mother was from East Chinnock, Somerset, England. Cliff’s great-grandmother Mary Ann was the daughter of George Lipsey aka Ripihi, who came to New Zealand around 1870 from Tully North, Newtowngore, Leitrim, Ireland; and of Ema Te Mokena Morgan, daughter of Chief Te Mokena Hou.
Cliff’s maternal grandmother was Teau “Daisy” Potaka (the daughter of Pape Epiha Potaka and Te Whakahi Rangihoapu). Pape Epiha was the son of Utiku Potaka, whose father was Chief Tapui Arapeta Pehitane Potaka, from Rata, Wanganui-Manawatu, New Zealand; and of Rora Te Oiroa Goff, whose father was from Finistere, Brittany, France, and whose mother was Māori.
Sources: Article about Cliff’s mother – https://www.tvnz.co.nz
Genealogy of Cliff’s mother (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com