John Sumner

Born in the UK and later lived in South Africa (Cape Town) John arrived in New Zealand with his family at the age of 9. "They totally opposed apartheid, so we left." He started his career in Auckland at 19 performing live on Auckland's nightclub circuit. Within a few months he was appearing in local variety television shows and gaining a solid local following. Within two years he appeared in his first major stage show and shortly after began combining his club and television work with repertory theatre. He gained both popular and critical acclaim playing "Charlie Brown" in "You're a good man Charlie Brown". His next stage production couldn't have been more removed. He once again built on his reputation for versatility by taking on the role of the character "Emory" in Matt Crowley's "The Boys in the Band". Numerous stage and club appearances followed over the next few years but in 1976 John switched to the business end if the industry and joined the local branch of RCA records in sales.