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Marama Isabel Martin (née Koea; 3 April 1930 – 10 July 2017) was a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. She was the first person seen on colour television in New Zealand, and was the last person to appear on NZBC TV.
Marama Martin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marama Isabel Koea 3 April 1930 New Plymouth, New Zealand |
| Died | 10 July 2017 (aged 87) Nelson, New Zealand |
| Known for | Television and radio personality |
| Spouse |
Bertram Whitaker Martin
(m. 1968) |
Born in New Plymouth on 3 April 1930 of Māori descent, Martin affiliated to Te Āti Awa.[1][2][3] She was the daughter of Teoti (George) Te Koea and Isabel Porahau Koea (née Falwasser). She studied at Ardmore Teachers' Training College, and then worked for a time as a teacher at a number of schools in the North Island.[2] She travelled to the United Kingdom for her overseas experience in 1953, and had a role as an extra in the 1954 film The Seekers, which was set in New Zealand.[2]
Returning to New Zealand, Koea resumed her teaching career in New Plymouth, before becoming a radio announcer there.[2] In the early 1960s, she moved to Wellington, and in 1965 started continuity announcing on television.[2] She was the second Māori television continuity announcer, following Tui Uru.[2] From 1967, she appeared on the BBC radio programme Family Favourites, providing contributions from New Zealand.[4][5]
In 1968, she married Bert Martin in Wellington.[6]
When colour television began broadcasting in New Zealand in October 1973, Marama Martin was the first person seen on screen, wearing a mauve dress.[2] On 31 March 1975, Martin was the last person to appear on NZBC TV, before New Zealand's sole television channel at the time was split into TV One and TV2.[2] She continued as a radio broadcaster on the YC stations until 1978.[2]
Following her retirement from broadcasting, Martin resumed her teaching career at The Correspondence School.[2] In 1984 she became a director of Coast FM, the first commercial FM radio station in New Zealand.[2] Marama and Bert Martin retired to the Gold Coast in Australia in 1987,[2] but later returned to Nelson, where she lived until her death there on 10 July 2017, aged 87.[7]
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