
Ken Blackburn
Acting
Biography
Kenneth Colster Blackburn MNZM (born 1935) is a New Zealand actor and writer. He has worked in film, television, radio and theatre in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom since 1972. In an impressively wide-ranging career spanning more than 40 years Ken has worked in film, television, radio and theatre. Ken has appeared in many of New Zealand’s most iconic TV shows including Xena: Warrior Princess, Farscape, Close To Home, Gliding On and Shortland Street. His film credits include pioneering feature Skin Deep, The Frighteners, King Kong and Rest for the Wicked. Ken’s stage credits are also extensive. In 1999 his performance as Vladimir in Waiting for Godot earned him the Best Actor award at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards. In 2005 he was awarded the Queen's Birthday Honours List for Services to the Performing Arts. Ken most recently performed in Circa Theatre’s 2017 production of Three Days in the Country. As well as his successful career as an actor in New Zealand, the UK and Australia, Ken has also directed stage, film, television and radio productions. His autobiographical book Blitz Kids was published by the BBC in 1995.
Known For

Xena is an infamous warrior on a quest to seek redemption for her past sins against the innocent. Accompanied by her comrade-in-arms Gabrielle, the campy couple use their formidable fighting skills to help those who are unable to defend themselves.
Xena: Warrior Princess

Beginning in a time of relative peace, we follow an ensemble cast of characters as they confront the re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

In a seemingly quiet country town the newest resident, Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd, finds that murder lurks in even the most homely location.
The Brokenwood Mysteries

The legendary son of Zeus journeys across the earth fighting monsters and helping people.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

The adventures of woodsman Richard Cypher, who discovers that he was born to fulfill a prophecy of becoming a guardian hero to oppressed people. With the help of a mysterious woman named Kahlan and a wise old wizard named Zedd, he must stop a ruthless and bloodthirsty tyrant from unleashing an ancient evil and enslaving the world.
Legend of the Seeker

On a perilous adventure across a post-apocalyptic world, a lovable boy who's half-human and half-deer searches for a new beginning with a gruff protector.
Sweet Tooth

The lives and loves of the residents of Ferndale.
Shortland Street

Alice is devastated when her best friend Steve starts dating her 26-year-old daughter Izzy. She's going to lose her best friend and her daughter in one fell swoop. Alice tries everything she can to end the relationship. Unfortunately for her, Steve's more than ready for the attack, and what begins as a perfect friendship, devolves into an all-out feud.
Alice and Steve

Once an architect, Frank Bannister now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his "special" gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent.
The Frighteners

White Fang was a 1993 television series loosely based on a novel by Jack London. During its single season 26 episodes were produced. It tells the story of young Matt Scott who adopts a wolf/dog named Fang who continually saves him from bad situations.
White Fang

In the Old West, a 17-year-old Scottish boy teams up with a mysterious gunman to find the woman with whom he is infatuated.
Slow West

The daughter of a Scottish farmer comes of age in the early 1900s.
Sunset Song
Historical television series about Sir George Gray
The Governor

An edited version of the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, shown exclusively to fans in cinemas around the world in August 2022. In a time of relative peace, an ensemble cast of characters confronts the re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Global Fan Screening

A gang member wakes up one morning and decides he needs a day off. Inspired by a newspaper advertisement he impulsively decides to take a short ferry trip between islands. With his tattooed face, black leather clothing, and prominent gang patch, the gangster is a fish out of water when he arrives in the idyllic small port town of Picton. The experience he has there will change his outlook on life forever.
Day Trip

A time capsule is found under a home after the Christchurch earthquake. There is a series of predictions that turn out to be true except one. That the finder will have psychic powers. The owner is on a quest to track down the writer and finds he was a famous magician. Is the magician correct? Does the owner have psychic powers?