Tui Teka better known by his stage names "Tui Latui" or Prince Tui Teka was a Māori singer/actor. Teka was a member of the Maori Volcanics Showband

Maori Volcanics Showband

The Maori Volcanics Showband are a New Zealand show group that formed in 1967. The Volcanics toured widely on the cabaret circuit. The Rajon Music Group released a compilation of the band's recordings in 2002.- Albums :...

 before having a successful solo career.

Career

Teka was born in Ruatahuna

Ruatahuna

The town of Ruatahuna is located in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island, 90 kilometres west of Gisborne, and 18 kilometres northwest of Lake Waikaremoana...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 near Te Urewera

Te Urewera

Te Urewera is an area of the central North Island of New Zealand. Located in rough, sparsely populated hill country to the northeast of Lake Taupo, it is the historical home of Tuhoe, a Māori iwi known for their controversial stance on Māori sovereignty...

. His parents were both musicians, and he learnt to play the guitar and saxophone at a young age. He moved to Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 in the early 1950s. In 1959, Teka, Jonny Nicol, and Mat Tenana joined the The Royal Samoans and Maoris. The band was later renamed Prince Tui Latui & The Maori Troubadours

The Maori Troubadours

The Maori Troubadours were a Māori-based showband which performed in Australia and Southeast Asia, beginning in 1958 and continuing well into the 1960s. The three original members were Prince Tui Latui , Matt Tenana and Johnny Kealoah . Drummer Neville Turner joined the band not long after its...

. In 1968 he joined Maori Volcanics Showband

Maori Volcanics Showband

The Maori Volcanics Showband are a New Zealand show group that formed in 1967. The Volcanics toured widely on the cabaret circuit. The Rajon Music Group released a compilation of the band's recordings in 2002.- Albums :...

, touring the Pacific for six years. In 1972 he began his solo career,and returned home releasing two albums; Real Love and Oh Mum, as well as the Māori love song E Ipo

E Ipo

"E Ipo" is a 1982 song by Prince Tui Teka.The video for the song was taken from a TV special filmed at the Mandalay nightclub in Newmarket, Auckland. The song later made the Nature's Best 3 compilation, a collection of the top 100 New Zealand songs as voted by members of APRA.- External links :* *...

. In 1974 he met with Noel Tio; both Tui and Noel had known each other since 1958, so Noel Tio Enterprises Pty Ltd. became his Australian (only) manager for 11 years. Before his death in 1985, he was in the German TV series Jack Holborn

Jack Holborn

Jack Holborn was a 1982 ZDF Adventure TV mini-series. The story is based on the book by Leon Garfield.-Plot:Jack Holborn is a 13-year-old boy living in an orphanage in late 18th-century Bristol. Jack was found on the steps of the Holborn Catholic church in London when he was a toddler. He was...

 and starred in New Zealand films Came a Hot Friday

Came a Hot Friday

Came a Hot Friday is a 1985 New Zealand made comedy film starring some of New Zealand's best-known actors and comedians, based on the 1964 novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson.-Plot:...

and Nate and Hayes

Nate and Hayes

Nate and Hayes, also known as Savage Islands , is a 1983 swashbuckling adventure film set in the South Pacific in the late 19th century...

.

Teka died in 1985. His widow, Missy, died in 2008.