Hirst, Michael

Michael Eric Hirst ( born Michael Eric Hurst ) was born in September 1957 in the English city ​​of Lancashire . When he was seven years old, his family, where Michael was the eldest of four sons, moved to Christchurch, New Zealand . There he graduated from high school, and then for a year he studied at the University of Canterbury .

On the movie screens, Hirst made his debut in 1981 , and played the first major role in 1984 in the movie “ Death Rampage ”, the first New Zealand film splatterter . The film won the main prize at the festival of science fiction films in Paris , so that for the first time Hurst attracted the attention of viewers. In the same year, he received the role of Dave Nelson in the TV series “Heroes”, where he starred in the next two years.

In 1985, Michael first appeared on movie screens with his future wife, Jennifer Ward-Leland, in the film Dangerous Orphans, with whom he had already played together several times on the theater stage. Their wedding took place in 1988, after which they three more appeared together in the films “The Footprint of a Man” ( 1992 ), “Desperate Measures” ( 1993 ) and “I will make you happy” ( 1999 ). In 1997, Jennifer gave birth to their first son, Jack, two years later they had another boy who was named Cameron.

The greatest success Michael Hirst reached in 1994, when he performed the role of Iolaus in the television movie “Hercules and the Amazons”, which served as the beginning for the launch of the popular television series “The Amazing Journeys of Hercules ”. During all the years of filming from 1995 to 1999, Hirst was one of the main characters in this series, and also appeared a couple of times in the same role in the series “ Xena - Warrior Princess ”. In 1995, Hirst directed two episodes of the series about Hercules, for which in 1997 and in 1999 he won the New Zealand film and television award. His first directorial debut in the full-length movie was the film "Jubilee", released on screens in 2000.

One of his latest roles was Hirst in the films “The Tattooist” ( 2007 ) and “ Bitch Shit ” ( 2009 ), as well as in the television series “The Adventures of Maddigan” ( 2005 ) and “ The Legend of the Seeker ” (2009).

In 2003, Michael Hirst won the New Zealand Art Fund Award. In 2005, he was promoted to the rank of officer of the Order of Merit for New Zealand for his contribution to cinema and theater.

In 2010, he played a small role in one episode of the New Zealand comedy series Almighty Johnsons ( eng. The Almighty Johnsons ).

Recently, Michael has worked as a director on the set of Spartak: The Gods of the Arena and Spartacus: Blood and Sand , in the latter he played the episodic role of a Roman herald.

• Official site (eng.)
• Michael Hirst on the Internet Movie Database