Tem's tribute 'LOSING LEE'

Lee Tamahori became a household name in 1994 with his feature film debut Once Were Warriors - a dazzling yet gut-wrenching Kiwi drama that few could forget.

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It sealed his future in Hollywood and Wellingtonborn Lee went on to direct a string of A-listers, including Melanie Griffith, Morgan Freeman and Sir Anthony Hopkins.

What few Kiwis knew was that in his later years, Lee lived with Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological condition.