Birth Name: Taika David Waititi
Place of Birth: Wellington, New Zealand
Date of Birth: August 16, 1975
Ethnicity:
*Maori, as well as 1/16th French-Canadian (father)
*Ashkenazi Jewish (mother)
Taika Waititi, also known as Taika Cohen, is a New Zealand film director, writer, actor, painter and comedian.
Taika’s father is Maori, and also of one sixteenth French-Canadian ancestry. His mother is Jewish, of Russian Jewish descent; her maiden name is “Cohen”.
Taika’s paternal grandparents were Edward Taika Waititi (the son of Kainga O Te Ware Waititi and Taupe Brown or Paraone) and Matewa Delamere (the daughter of Hiki Manawa Delamere and Rongopouri Poihipi). Hiki’s paternal grandfather, Samuel Delamere, was a French-Canadian whaler who married Peti Te Ha, a Maori woman.
Source: Genealogy of Taika Waititi (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com/
Taika’s family background – http://www.npr.org/
Information about Taika’s great-great-great-grandfather, Samuel Delamere – http://www.teara.govt.nz/
Photo by Joe Seer/bigstockphoto.com