41.2889° S, 174.7773° E
WELLINGTON
Most Famous People Born in Wellington, New Zealand
- Notable people
- 814
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- Median birth year
- 1956
- Most distinctive
- Cricket 10.8×
Wellington's profile splits clean between cricket and cinema. The Basin Reserve and generations of Black Caps drive an outsized Cricket bench, and a harbor-club Rower scene has produced Olympic medalists out of all proportion to the city's size. The quieter story is the Miramar film industry — Weta Workshop turned Wellington into the southern hemisphere's effects capital, which is why the roster also leans heavily on screenwriters and directors.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Wellington during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 126 notable births.
What Wellington Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Player is Wellington's biggest profession — 21% of all notables (167).
Wellington over-indexes on cricket — 10.8× the global rate.
Wellington under-produces football — only 0.5× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Wellington's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Science
- Writing
- Music
- Other
- Filtered to 1950s Clear ×
Jane Campion
Born 1954
Richard Curtis
Born 1956
Fran Walsh
Born 1959
Lee Tamahori
Born 1950
Georgina Beyer
Born 1957
Simon Duggan
Born 1959
James Belich (historian)
Born 1956
Jeremy Coney
Born 1952
Elizabeth Knox
Born 1959
Keith Mackay
Born 1956
Steve Guy
Born 1959
Trevor Mallard
Born 1954
Ruth Dyson
Born 1957
Andrew Jones (New Zealand cricketer)
Born 1959
Murray Mexted
Born 1953
Anne Tolley
Born 1953
Alec McLean
Born 1950
Bruce Edgar
Born 1956
Catherine Delahunty
Born 1953
Maggie Barry
Born 1959
Rocky Wood
1959 - 2014
Alan Isaac
Born 1952
Gary Knight (rugby player)
Born 1951
Helen Bowater
Born 1952
Tim Powles
Born 1959
Chris Finlayson
Born 1956
Apirana Taylor
Born 1956
Brian Sergent
Born 1959
Rip Morgan
Born 1957
Kerry Jacobson
Born 1954
Sandra Lee-Vercoe
Born 1952
Robert Oliver (cyclist)
Born 1950
Robert Vance
Born 1955
David Jackson (boxer)
1955 - 2004
Ervin McSweeney
Born 1957
Nicholas Dunlop
Born 1956
John Eden (athlete)
Born 1955
Alex McKay
Born 1955
Clive Currie
Born 1955
Evan Gray
Born 1954
Winnie Laban
Born 1955
Andrew Wilson (Wellington cricketer)
1954 - 2018
Tim Logan
Born 1953
Linda Lindsay
Born 1959
Craig Heatley
Born 1956
Alan Watson (magician)
Born 1950
Timothy Hyde
Born 1955
David Barnes (sailor)
1958 - 2020
Debra Bustin
Born 1957
Lou Gardiner
1952 - 2015
Murray Henderson (rugby union)
Born 1959
Chris Urry
Born 1952
Pru Chapman
1950 - 2000
Adrienne Martyn
Born 1950
Tony Parr
Born 1955
Chris Jannides
Born 1954
Sarah Delahunty
Born 1952
Kenneth Granger
Born 1951
Brian McGrattan (rugby union)
Born 1959
Bianca van Rangelrooy
Born 1959