Jim Moriarty

Acting

Jim Moriarty

Born 1953-06-20 · New Zealand

James Moriarty MNZM is a New Zealand actor and theatre director, who began acting professionally in 1967. He came to national attention and is probably best known for his role as the school teacher Riki Winiata in the 1970s soap opera Close to Home. His work has toured nationally and internationally. Moriarty is from the Māori tribes of Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Koata and Ngāti Kahungunu.

Acting credits

Night of the Juggler poster
6.8

When a twisted psychotic kidnaps a young girl, mistaking her for the daughter of a wealthy developer, her father, a hardened ex-cop, doggedly hunts them through New York's seamy streets.

Night of the Juggler

1980

Cousins poster
6.7

Connected by blood but separated by circumstances, three cousins spend a lifetime in search of each other.

Cousins

2021

Mark II poster
6.5

Three Maori youths, bored with Auckland, head south in a restored Mark II Zephyr in search of something different. One of them is on the run from drug dealers, whom he had crossed. Various mini-adventures occurs as they make their way down the North Island, but it all comes to a head while visiting a cousin. Finally, they, the drug dealers and the police all come together, with the expected fights and arrests.

Mark II

1986

This Town poster
5.9

Five years after being acquitted for the murder of his family, Sean (White) is finally ready to move on with life. But the bitter ex-cop (Malcolm) who led the investigation remains adamant that he's guilty - and will stop at nothing to bring him down.

This Town

2020

Uncle poster
NR

When a man, quietly lost, suddenly finds himself caring for his best mate’s three-year-old son, a week of wandering, play and unexpected connection begins to unsettle the heaviness he carries.

Uncle

2026

Mahana poster
6.4

1960s, East Coast of New Zealand. Two Māori sheep-shearing families, the Mahanas and the Poatas, are longstanding enemies and commercial rivals. 14-year-old Simeon Mahana, the youngest son of the youngest son is in conflict with his traditionalist grandfather, Tamihana. As Simeon unravels the truth behind the longstanding family vendetta he risks not just his own future prospects but the cohesion of the entire tight-knit society.

Mahana

2016

The Gravedigger of Kapu poster
NR

Hone is the last of the old time gravediggers. He links the living with the dead. He is the keeper of their secrets. Tana is Hone’s apprentice who respects his uncle and doesn’t mind the physical work. However he finds the spiritual side of the job unnerving. Hone worries that Tana may not be able to pick up the role of the gravedigger and all that it entails. A series of incidents in the urupa (graveyard) lead them to both make final decisions.

The Gravedigger of Kapu

2018

No artwork available
NR

A woodsman must rescue his young daughter from an evil witch.

The Witch & the Woodsman

2010

A Difficult Woman poster
9.0

Anne (Caroline Goodall) is a successful pathologist for a top pharmaceutical corporation, and her life couldn't be better. That is, until one of her oldest and dearest friends is murdered, turning Anne's world upside down. Not satisfied with the status of the investigation, she takes it on herself, and what she finds out could threaten her career -- and her life.

A Difficult Woman

1999

The Waimate Conspiracy poster
7.0

The 2005 discovery of a cannonball, buried for 138 years in a paddock, throws Waimate into turmoil. It is all the Maori locals need to confirm their long-held belief that they were forcibly removed from their tribal lands, in a bloody 1866 battle. The hotly contested claim eventually ends up in the District Court and on the lens of cameraman Dave who captures all the arguments, frauds and forgeries of the townspeople, in a cinema verité mockumentary style.

The Waimate Conspiracy

2006

The Returning poster
7.5

A successful city lawyer abandons his practice and heads out to the country. There he comes upon a stately, but neglected, homestead. He moves in, and during his first night a beautiful ghostly woman makes love to him, in his sleep. Soon his dreams become more engrossing than his everyday world and girlfriend. Gradually he unravels the tragedy of his spirit lovers' past. To respond to her call, he needs to embrace the hearafter.

The Returning

1990

Saving Grace poster
6.8

Grace is a homeless teenager. She befriends an unemployed carpenter and he invites her to share his flat. She moves in and to her surprise a delicate relationship develops. He helps her repair her shattered self-esteem and she begins to feel loved and secure. But then she discovers his secret - he tells her he is Jesus Christ.

Saving Grace

1998

The Strength of Water poster
6.0

When a mysterious stranger arrives in their isolated coastal town, 10-year-old twins, Kimi and Melody are forced apart. Kimi must find the strength to let go of what he loves the most.

The Strength of Water

2009

Fog poster
NR

Sixteen year old Ricky lives in a small fishing village with his parents. He dreams of leaving the town but is hindered by his father's expectations to follow in his footsteps. Ricky meets Telly, an older local girl who encourages him to sneak out of his house and escape into the night.

Fog

2007

Kingpin poster
6.5

Willie, a likeable kid, forms a friendship with Rikki, a new arrival at the reform school. Willie discovers that Rikki is maybe tough enough to take on Karl, the kingpin. Although Rikki is strong, he does not like to fight, but tensions mount as Karl's bullying become more obnoxious. After being shown up by Willie, Karl loses his temper and gives Willie a thrashing. As a result, Willie joins with some other boys in an escape. They steal a car, get drunk, and have a serious accident. Meanwhile Rikki is in hospital, injured in a forestry "accident' engineered by Karl.

Kingpin

1985

No Petrol, No Diesel poster
5.0

A small town, on State Highway 1, where nothing ever happens...then Rex Devlin dies in a suspicious car wreck and a mysterious stranger moves into the Temuka Hotel. Why is one of the world's biggest multinational corporations so desperate to buy a dowdy little backwater petrol station? Has Oscar Devlin really come all the way home from Los Angeles to sort out his meager inheritance, or is it Frankie he's come to see?

No Petrol, No Diesel

2009