LOTR Golden Globe dedicated to NZ cancer victim

One of the four Golden Globe awards collected by the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King film team in Los Angeles yesterday was dedicated to a young Auckland cancer victim who died last year.

New Zealander Fran Walsh jointly won the award for best original song - Into the West - with Canadian composer Howard Shore and British singer Annie Lennox.

Walsh, partner of The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and co-producer of the film, made a rare public appearance to accept her award.

She dedicated it to Cameron Duncan, who died in November aged 17, before the December world premiere in Wellington of the third and final Lord of the Rings film.

"I would just like to dedicate this to a young friend of ours who passed away just as we finished the film, Cameron Duncan, and it [the song] was written for him," Walsh said at the Globes' ceremony.

Cameron's mother, Sharon Duncan, said she was overwhelmed by the dedication.

"We played it [the song] at the funeral because Fran brought it up to the funeral for us and made the announcement there that ... Cameron had inspired those lyrics."

Cameron, an amateur film-maker who suffered from bone cancer, died while seeking treatment in Texas. The Avondale College student had been a frequent visitor to Rings sets in Wellington.

- NZPA

Herald Feature: Lord of the Rings