Bret McKenzie, New Zealand comedian, actor, musician, songwriter, and producer
Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand comedian, actor, musician and producer. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of a BBC radio series and then an oft-lauded American television series, which aired for two seasons on HBO. Active since 1998, the duo released their most recent comedy special, Live in London, in 2019.
Primarily a musician, McKenzie has worked as a songwriter and music supervisor for film and television since the 2010s. He served as music supervisor for two Muppet films, The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014), the former of which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Man or Muppet".
As an actor, he portrayed elves in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies: in the first he remained unnamed with fans naming him Figwit, a character originally cast as an extra who gained attention thanks to the trilogy's fan community. He later appears in The Hobbit as Lindir, a minor character who originally appears in the book of The Fellowship of the Ring.
1976Jun, 29
Bret McKenzie
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Events on 1976
- 5Jan
Democratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge proclaim the Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea. - 13Apr
Thomas Jefferson
The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration. - 8May
Six Flags Magic Mountain
The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain. - 11Oct
Gerald R. Ford
George Washington's appointment, posthumously, to the grade of General of the Armies by congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 is approved by President Gerald R. Ford. - 13Oct
Ebola
The first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle is obtained by Dr. F. A. Murphy, now at U.C. Davis, who was then working at the C.D.C.