Billy T James taught New Zealanders to laugh at themselves - a Maori taking the mickey out of Maori.
In the mid-80s, he could do no wrong as the star of film and television. So how did the country's most beloved comedian end up dying at only 42, penniless and owing hundreds of thousands to the IRD?
It's nearly 20 years since Billy died of complications from a heart transplant, yet it's only now that an authorised biography is telling his story.
Close Up looks back at the extraordinary life of Billy T James.
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