Legacy, Recent Biographies and Documentaries
The Billy T Award was founded in 1997 in honour of James. It is New Zealand's most prestigious comedy award, recognizing comedians with outstanding potential. Winners are presented with a yellow towel, Billy's trademark from his "Te News" sketches.
In 2009, nearly 50% of respondents voted him the country's greatest comedian in a New Zealand Listener survey, eighteen years after his death.
The first biography of James was released in 2009. Entitled The Life and Times of Billy T. James, it was written by Matt Elliott and was based upon interviews with some friends and colleagues. However James' immediate family refused to co-operate with Elliot, leaving the biography full of inaccuracies. A North and South article in 2011 by investigative journalist Donna Chisholm revealed the main source of the book was James' former wife Lynn Matthews, who had left the entertainer seven years prior to his death. Close friends and family denounced the book in the article and even Elliot admitted that he had not spoken to James' daughter in researching the book.
In December 2010, funding was given for the production of a biopic based on Billy T. James' life. In March 2011, it was revealed the film was to be titled Billy and would star Tainui Tukiwaho as Billy and Morgana O'Reilly as wife Lynn. The film premiered on 21 August 2011 on TV One. Liberties were taken for dramatic purposes including arguments with co-writer and television partner Peter Rowley and a minor heart-attack while filming, neither of which occurred. Both Peter Rowley and James' daughter criticised the inaccuracies of the production in the press.
A documentary entitled Billy T : Te Movie was released theatrically in August 2011. Directed by Ian Mune, it proved popular with both theatre-goers and reviewers, becoming the week's top box office performer on the week of release with $263,000 in sales. Te Movie is now available on DVD.
In 2011, Peter Rowley wrote and starred in Billy T & Me, a one-man show which combined Rowley's memories of working alongside Billy with archival video footage. The show toured New Zealand and was made available on DVD.
Read more about this topic: Billy T. James
Famous quotes containing the word biographies:
“Why I love the ancients so much? Aside from everything else, when I read them, the entire past between them and me unfolds at the same time. The hearts of how many heroes and poets may have been set on fire by Plutarch’s biographies which now inspire me with their own and with borrowed flames!”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)