Pana Hema Taylor

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 starring in the series The Brokenwood Mysteries, as well as Spartacus and Westside.

His father is surnamed Taylor. He 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 Danielle Cormack; and a daughter with his partner Naomi Campbell. He is of Ngāti Kahungunu descent.

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