Peta Rutter Fan Blog: Peta Rutter Wikipedia Inspired Article

Peta Rutter

Rutter's Personal Headshot

Born

Peta Elizabeth Gurney Rutter
December 31, 1959

South Wales

Died

July 20, 2010
Auckland, New Zealand

Cause of Death

Malignant Brain Tumor

Occupation

Actress, Dancer

Years active

1981-2006

Known for

Udonna, Power Rangers Mystic Force

Spouse

Chris Jannides (? -?)

Carl Bland (1989/1990 -2010)

Children

Milli Jannides (b.1986)

Peta Rutter

Peta Elizabeth Gurney Rutter (December 31, 1959-July 20, 2010) was a New Zealand actress known most notably for her key role in Power Rangers Mystic Force as Udonna, the White Ranger. Other television roles included appearances on Away Laughing (1991-1992), Young Hercules (1998), while film roles included The Footstep Man (1992) and This is Not a Love Story (2002).

Rutter was heavily involved in New Zealand theatre along with her second husband, Carl Bland, and close friend Ben Crowder. Bland and Rutter created the stage company Nightsong Productions which produced shows such as The Bed Show, The House of Doors and Camels, and more. Rutter also performed in a wide range of productions including 4.48 Psychosis (2004) and The Dentist’s Chair (2008).

The daughter of Lady Mary and Sir Frank Rutter, who was a well-known and respected doctor in New Zealand. She was one of six daughters that included: Tina, Mandy, Jo, Nicky, and Maria. Rutter had one daughter, Milli Jannides, who was raised by Rutter and Bland. She passed away on July 20, 2010 after being diagnosed with a brain tumor only two weeks prior.

1 Early life
2 Career

2.1 1980s
2.2 1990s
2.3 2000s
2.4 Power Rangers

3 Personal life

3.1 Death

4 Filmography

4.1 Film and Television
4.2 Theatre
4.3 Music Videos

5 References

Early Life

Peta Elizabeth Gurney Rutter was born on December 31, 1959 in South Wales, to parents Lady Mary and doctor Sir Frank Rutter. She was one of six daughters and grew up with two dogs and a cat. Her sisters were Joanna “Jo” Beyer (nee Rutter), Mandy Beyer (nee Rutter), Nicola “Nicky” Ling (nee Rutter), Maria Rutter, and Tina Rutter. Peta, along with the rest of her family, left South Wales in 1963 to pursue a life in New Zealand. The family traveled on the ocean liner Canberra until the ship caught fire on January 4, 1963 following an explosion in the boiler room. Rutter, her family, and the rest of the passengers were then taken to their destinations by airplane.

Career

1980’s

Rutter began her acting career in the early 1980’s, playing one of the dancers at a party in the New Zealand horror mystery Strange Behavior (1981). In 1985, Rutter starred in the music video of Diamonds On China, performed by The Narcs. The music video can still be viewed via YouTube here.

Simultaneously in 1981, she began her career as a dancer and joined the Australian dance group, Darc Swan. Darc Swan had been formed by Rutter’s first husband, Chris Jannides. The group was created in 1981 and was disbanded in 1997. As stated by Jannides,“The first 2-3 years had a core group of myself, Kilda Northcott, Kaye Freeman, and the actress Peta Rutter (to whom I was also married).” Though it is unknown what year Rutter left, she was at least present in the group in 1984.

1990’s

During the 1990’s, Rutter began to have more television roles. She joined the sketch comedy series, Away Laughing (1991-1992) and remained on it for its two year-long run. The series was produced by Dave Gibson and starred late actor Kevin Smith, as well as other notable theatre talents such as Danny Mulheron and Carol Smith. She also acted in two “made for TV movies” for TV One, including Trifecta (1995) as Anne McGuire, the estranged wife of the main character, and in Home Movie (1997) as Maggie, the sister of the main character. Rutter’s other TV role was a two-episode stint on Young Hercules in 1998. She portrayed Iambe, one of Zeus’ lovers and the mother of their son Lucius played by Craig Parker. In film, Rutter only had one role and that was of Lucie in The Footstep Man (1992). The film, directed by Leon Narbey, is about a man who creates sound effects in movies. She had a supporting role.

Along with husband Carl Bland, Peta founded the Auckland theatre company Nightsong Productions on April 22, 1994. Each took half ownership of the company, getting 500 shares a piece. The company was behind the scenes of many productions including: The Bed Show, The House of Doors and Camels, Peta and Carl at The Last Supper, and SOFA Stories. Nightsong Productions would later merge with Theatre Stampede, another theatre company whose director was Ben Crowder, who together they had collaborated with later to create both HEAD and 360- A Theatre of Recollections. She also had a role in Douglas Wright’s Forbidden Memories (1997.)

2000’s

Into the early 2000’s, Rutter began taking on more acting roles for both on screen and in the theatre. In 2000, she guest-starred as Pru Simmonds during the first series of the New Zealand drama, Street Legal. She also had an appearance on Xena: Warrior Princess in 2000 as one of the original Amazons. The episode in which she appeared, Lifeblood, was interesting as many of the scenes were recycled from a scrapped pilot called Amazon High. The series was to take place in the same universe as Xena and was filmed in late 1997. Rutter’s work was part of the scenes that had been recycled. She also appeared on the learning program Korero Mai as Ava. The show teaches the language of Maori. It is unknown how many episodes or what year she appeared on the program, but the show itself ran from 2004-2012.

Rutter also had a couple of film roles during this time. In 2000, Rutter and Leonie Reynolds, who also directed and wrote, lent their voices to the short film Heaven To Cry. It featured “Forest scenes with poetry seeking the morning light.” Her final film appearance was a starring role in the movie This is Not a Love Story (2002), which also starred Sarah Smuts-Kennedy and Stephen Lovatt. Rutter portrayed Suzanne, the wife of Lovatt’s character who is a struggling artist in a struggling marriage. Written and directed by Keith Hill, it was released on July 15 and is estimated to have had a budget of 1,000,000.

Continuing to be a major part of Auckland Theatre, Rutter was involved in numerous productions throughout the decade. She appeared in two of Shona McCullagh’s works – Flare Up: A Floral Explosion and The Human Garden. In 2002 she worked with Douglas Wright again for Inland, as the central character of the Shepard. In 2004 she played the First Witch in Michael Hurst’s Macbeth. That same year, Rutter and seven other actors had to play 50 different characters in the show, Wild Cabbage. Rutter also had a key role in 2004 apart of 4.48 Psychosis, which was written by famed playwright Sarah Kane who committed suicide in 1999. The play itself is a detailed look into the mental state of the depressed mind, with Kane having just completed it prior to her death. On Kane’s work, Rutter stated, “The play is always going to be informed by the fact that she killed herself, but to say that is its main impact is to discredit her. She is an amazing playwright. 4.48 Psychosis was two years in the writing. She was reading widely on the subject in that time and the play works on a lot of other levels as well. Her work is very layered, and we experimented a lot to get to the essence of it.” Other theatre performances included Maura in Milo’s Wake (2006), Judy in The Dentist’s Chair (2008), and as the Deranged Language Teacher in The Wife Who Spoke Japanese in Her Sleep. (2009). Along with Theatre Stampede, Nightsong Productions won the Chapman Tripp Award for Most Original Production for the show HEAD in 2005. 360, which Rutter co-wrote alongside Bland, was originally performed in 2010 and then brought back posthumously in 2014 where it won The Hackman Cup.

Power Rangers

Rutter is most known for her role as Udonna, the White Ranger, on Power Rangers Mystic Force (2006). Appearing in Season Fourteen of the long-running American show, Rutter played the mentor of the Power Rangers. Peta Rutter is the oldest actress to have portrayed a ranger (the only actor to surpass her was Arthur Ranford who portrayed Albert Smith, the Purple Ranger, in one episode of Power Rangers Dino Charge). She portrayed the character in all 32 episodes of the series, which was shot in New Zealand. The series used action footage from Super Sentai Series Mahou Sentai Magiranger. The series was produced by Bruce Kalish who returned for his second year apart of Power Rangers. Towards the end of the series, it was revealed that Udonna was the mother of Red Ranger Nick, portrayed by Firass Dirani. The show became Rutter’s last screen appearance with the final episode Mystic Fate Part II. Rutter’s performance and character are often considered a highlight of the series.

Personal Life

Family and Relationships

Rutter was married twice. Her first marriage with artist and dancer Chris Jannide produced one daughter, Milli Jannides, who is also a professional artist. Rutter gave birth to Jannides in Sydney, Australia 1986. The night before her daughter’s birthdays, Rutter would kiss her however many years old she was turning. Rutter later married Carl Bland between 1989-1990, and the two raised Jannides themselves since she was three years old. Her father, Sir Frank Rutter, passed away in 2002 at the age of 84. Her mother, Lady Mary Rutter (nee Milton) is still alive today.

In addition to being heavily involved in theatre works together, Rutter and Bland also enjoyed traveling across New Zealand to search through “demolition yards and markets for objects that take their fancy.” They incorporated their finds into their home.

Death and Posthumous Work

Rutter had gone to an Optometrist because she believed that she needed new reading glasses. Per Bland, the Optometrist "noticed she wasn't seeing colours right and two weeks later she was dead". It was revealed to have been a brain tumor that had formed. During this time, Rutter and Bland were in the process of selling their house. On the day Rutter passed the two were due to move out. Despite her sudden death, Bland still had to move out of the house. A service was held on July 28, 2010 at Saint Andrew’s Church which was followed by a private cremation. Her grave resides in the Saint Andrew’s Churchyard. Following her death, Bland was unsure if he’d be able to write another show without her. He created the “comedy about grief” play, Te Po, in 2016 and dedicated it to Rutter. He included Rutter in the closing of play, however, by having the final dialogue be a monologue she had written herself. An interview with Bland suggested she may always be in his shows with the Q/A segment containing, “And how did Rutter get in? Bland looks at me and I know what he’s thinking. Why do I even ask? She was going to get into whatever he wrote. She possibly always will.”

Filmography

Film and Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Strange Behavior (aka Dead Kids)	Dancer at Party
1991-1992	Away Laughing	Various Characters	Sketch Comedy Series
1992	The Footstep Man	Lucie
1995	Trifecta	Anne McGuire	Television Film
1997	Home Movie	Maggie	Television Film
1998	Young Hercules	Iambe	Two Episodes
2000	Heaven To Cry	Narrator	Voice Role Only
2000	Xena: Warrior Princess	Amazon Extra	Episode: Lifeblood
2000	Street Legal	Pru Simmonds	Episode: Possession Is Ten Tenths of the Law
2002	This Is Not a Love Story	Suzanne
2004-2010*	Korero Mai	Ava
2006	Power Rangers Mystic Force	Udonna, White Ranger	Thirty-Two Episodes, Final onscreen appearance

*It is unknown what year(s) Rutter was on the show, but the show began in 2004 and Rutter passed away in 2010.

Theatre

Year	Production	Role	Notes
Unknown	Flare Up: A Floral Explosion	Unknown
Unknown	The Human Garden	Unknown
1997	Forbidden Memories	Unknown
2002	Inland	Shepard
2004	4.48 Psychosis	N/A**
2004	Macbeth	First Witch
2004	Wild Cabbage	Multiple Characters
2006	Milo’s Wake	Maura
2008	The Dentist’s Chair	Judy
2009	The Wife Who Spoke Japanese in her Sleep	Language Teacher

**The show 4.48 Psychosis is not written with characters, instead it is broken dialogue which is meant to be interpreted differently by all directors who work on the show.

Music Videos