David Charles Gilbert Lawrence (1941 - 1995)

Born 12 Feb 1941 in Worthing, West Sussex, England

Ancestors

Died 10 Jun 1995 at age 54 in Wellington, New Zealand

Biography

Bruno Lawrence is Notable.

Bruno was born David Lawrence in England in 1941, to an English mother and a Taranaki father. In 1946, his family emigrated to New Zealand. Lawrence picked up the nickname ‘Bruno' as a youth and moonlighted as a semi-professional musician, drumming in bands around the lower North Island.^[1]

By the time he left Wellington Boys College, Lawrence had discovered his passion for music, in particular the modern jazz of Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck and Thelonius Monk, and had cobbled together his first drumkit.

The 1981 electoral roll shows him and his wife in Wellington. He lists his occupation as Musician.^[2]

Bruno Lawrence's tangi took place on Wednesday, June 14, 1995, at the Taupunga marae, just up the road from Snoring Waters, the home in the tiny Hawke's Bay town of Waimarama purchased in the mid-1970s by members of the Blerta clan. In recent years, most had moved away, leaving just Lawrence and his wife Veronica, any number of their five children, and the occasional grandchild.^[3] Listed as number 7 in the The 50 coolest Kiwis ever^[4]

Crazy drummer who formed his own band (Blerta) and became an instant film star in the Kiwi classic Smash Palace. "When he tried to act, he wasn't very good, but his instincts were superb," said fellow actor Keith Aberdein. "You kind of worked on the edge with Bruno and that was a very good place." Lawrence later won over Australians in cult comedy Frontline. Died aged 54 of lung cancer. in 1995, aged 54.

Sources

1. ↑ NZ On Screen
2. ↑ 1981 Wellington Central Electoral roll - uploaded
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20190129211553/https://www.noted.co.nz/archive/listener-nz-2013/from-our-archive-bruno-did-his-thing/
4. ↑ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11240464&ref=NZH_FBpage

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Lawrence