# Tim Balme

Timothy Guy Balme (born 18 January 1967) is a New Zealand actor and screenwriter. He's most well known for his roles on the long-running soap opera Shortland Street and Mercy Peak, as well as lead roles in the cult film Braindead and Jack Brown Genius. He was a writer and actor on the television series The Almighty Johnsons, and the creator and a writer for The Brokenwood Mysteries.

## Personal life

Balme is married to actress Katie Wolfe, with whom he has two children; daughter Edie (born 2001) and son Nīkau (born 2005). Balme also has a son, Sam (born 1987) from a previous relationship.

## Career

Balme graduated from Toi Whakaari in 1989, and his first lead role was in the 1992 film Braindead (aka Dead Alive). Balme and his wife, along with Simon Bennett and Robyn Malcolm, founded the New Zealand Actors' Company, which ran for three productions before being dissolved. An actor for the better part of twenty years, he has recently branched out into writing, and has scripted episodes for television series such as Diplomatic Immunity and Outrageous Fortune. Balme also wrote the short film Redemption, directed by his wife, which was selected as part of the short film line-up at the Sundance Film Festival for 2011.
Balme worked as the head of development for South Pacific Pictures for three years before returning to freelancing. He currently writes for shows such as the popular Channel 7 drama 800 Words and is head writer for the murder mystery series The Brokenwood Mysteries. In 2015 he won the Best Television Screenplay award at the SWANZ (NZ Writer's Guild Awards) for Brokenwood Ep 2 "Sour Grapes".

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | Braindead | Lionel Cosgrove | |
| 1994 | Tin Box | Adam | |
| 1994 | The Last Tattoo | Jim Mitchell | |
| 1994 | La vie en rose | Priest | Short film |
| 1996 | Planet Man | Ant | Short film |
| 1996 | Headlong | Arthur | Short film |
| 1996 | Jack Brown Genius | Jack Brown | |
| 1998 | Via Satellite | Ken | |
| 2001 | Exposure | Brad | Video |
| 2003 | For Good | Grant Wilson | |
| 2007 | The Tattooist | Jake's Father | |
| 2010 | No Reason | Pathologist No. 1 | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Shark in the Park | Barry | "Diversions" |
| 1991 | Away Laughing | Various | TV series |
| 1993 | Marlin Bay | Hal Hayward | 1 episode |
| 1994 | White Fang | Brubaker | "Movie Stars Among Themselves" |
| 1994 | Hercules in the Underworld | Lycastus | TV movie |
| 1994–96 | Shortland Street | Greg Feeney | TV series |
| 1995 | Coverstory | Nick Williams | 1 episode |
| 1998 | The Legend of William Tell | Alum | Episode: "Combat" |
| 1999 | Shortland Street | Greg Feeney | TV series |
| 1999 | Give Us a Clue | | 1 episode |
| 1999 | Greenstone | Father Michael | TV series |
| 2001–02 | Mercy Peak | Ken Wilder | Main role |
| 2002 | The Vector File | Paul | TV movie |
| 2004 | Deceit | Kevin Ordell | TV movie |
| 2004 | Not Only But Always | NY Club Compere | TV movie |
| 2004-05 | P.E.T. Detectives | The Laughing Man | "Time After Time", "Science Teacher" |
| 2006 | Maddigan's Quest | Yves | Main role |
| 2010 | Outrageous Fortune | Quentin | "The Power to Seduce", "When Both Contend" |
| 2011–12 | Nothing Trivial | Jules | Recurring role |
| 2011–13 | The Almighty Johnsons | Mike Johnson | Lead role |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Playwright | Role | Company |
| 1990 | Ladies Night | Anthony McCarten & Stephen Sinclair | Craig | Australian Tour |
| 1990–1995 | Blue Sky Boys | Ken Duncum | Don Everly | |
| 1991 | Via Satellite | Anthony McCarten | Camerman | Circa Theatre |
| 1992 | Hang on a Minute Mate | | Young Jack | Downstage Theatre |
| 1993–1994 | Let's Spend the Night Together | | Rick | National Tour |
| 1994 | Ladies Night II – Raging On | Anthony McCarten & Stephen Sinclair | Craig | Mercury Theatre |
| 1996 | Hamlet | Shakespeare | Hamlet | Circa Theatre |
| 1996 | One Flesh | Fiona Samuel | Neil | Downstage Theatre |
| 1997–2000 | The Ballad of Jimmy Costello | Tim Balme | Jimmy Costello | National and International tour |
| 1999 | Much Ado About Nothing | Shakespeare | Benedick | Downstage Theatre |
| 2000 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Shakespeare | Oberon / Theseus | NZ Actors Company |
| 2002 | Queen Leah | | Regan | NZ Actors Company |
| 2010 | Horseplay | | James K Baxter | Maidment Theatre |
| 2017 | Nell Gwynn | Jessica Swale | King Charles the second | Auckland Theatre Company |

## Other work
### Film

| Title | Year | Credited as | Notes |
| Title | Year | Writer | Notes |
| Redemption | 2010 | Yes | Short film |
| White Lies | 2013 | No | Script development |

### Television

The numbers in writing credits refer to the number of episodes.
| Title | Year | Credited as | Network | Notes |
| Title | Year | Writer | Network | Notes |
| Interrogation | 2005 | Yes (2) | Prime | |
| Outrageous Fortune | 2006–10 | Yes (21) | TV3 | Storyliner (series 3: 7 episodes, series 4–6) |
| Wayne Anderson: Glory Days | 2008 | No | Prime | Script consultant |
| Diplomatic Immunity | 2009 | Yes (2) | TV One | |
| Stolen | 2010 | Screenplay | TV3 | Television film |
| The Almighty Johnsons | 2011–13 | Yes (5) | TV3 | Storyliner (series 3) |
| The Blue Rose | 2013 | No | TV3 | Head of development (10 episodes) Storyliner (6 episodes) |
| The Brokenwood Mysteries | 2014–present | Yes (21) | Prime TVNZ 1 | Script editor (series 1–3: 8 episodes) Co-producer (series 6: 1 episode) Producer (series 7) |
| 800 Words | 2015–17 | Yes (6) | Seven Network TVNZ 1 | |
| The Sounds | 2020 | Yes (3) | Acorn TV Neon | Storyliner |
| Under the Vines | 2021 | Yes (1) | Acorn TV TVNZ 1 | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1992 | Fantafestival | Best Actor | Braindead | Won |
| 1993 | New Zealand Film and TV Awards | Best Male Dramatic Performance | Braindead | Won |
| 1996 | New Zealand Film and TV Awards | Best Actor | Jack Brown Genius | Won |
| 2002 | New Zealand Film and TV Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Mercy Peak | Won |
| 2010 | NZ Herald Best of Theatre Award | | Horseplay | Won |