Profile Text
Birth Name: Pana Lawrence Hema-Taylor
Place of Birth: Auckland, North Island, New Zealand
Date of Birth: 14 September, 1989
Ethnicity: Māori, English
Pana Hema Taylor is a New Zealand actor. He is known for his roles on the series Spartacus: Vengeance , Spartacus: War of the Damned , The Brokenwood Mysteries , Westside , and The Gulf , and in the films Boy (2010), Kawa , and The Most Fun You Can Have Dying .
His father is surnamed Taylor. He is of Ngāti Kahungunu descent. Pana grew up in Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. After his parents separated, he moved to Christchurch. He has a son with his former wife, actress and costume/set designer Danielle Cormack; and a daughter with his partner Naomi Campbell (not the model).
Pana’s maternal grandfather was Rawiri (Lofty) Pana Hema (the son of Pana Hema and Kokakora Rangihuna). Pana’s great-grandfather Pana was the son of Wiremu Puhara Hema and Titihuia Marlene Kokere. Kokakora was the daughter of Wiremu Katene Paraire Rangihuna and Arihia Alice Mataira, whose own mother was of half Māori and half English descent. Alice was the granddaughter of Thomas Halbert, a whaler and trader from Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
Pana’s maternal grandmother was Madge (Sandy) Lawrence (the daughter of Leslie James (Jimmy) Lawrence and Hariata Haenga Paretipua). Madge was born in Wairoa, Hawke’s Bay, North Island, New Zealand. Leslie was the son of English parents, James Edward Lawrence, from Kent, and Emma Coe, from Marylebone, London. Hariata was the daughter of Te Haenga Paretipua and Titihuia Nga Rangi Mataeo, who were Māori of Ngāti Kahungunu.
Sources: Genealogy of Pana Hema Taylor (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Pana’s maternal great-grandfather, Pana Hema (focusing on his own father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Pana’s maternal great-grandmother, Kokakora Rangihuna – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Pana’s maternal grandmother, Madge Lawrence – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Pana’s great-aunt (grandmother’s sister) – https://www.legacy.com
Genealogy of Pana’s maternal great-grandfather, Leslie James (Jimmy) Lawrence (focusing on his own mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com