Sugith Varughese is an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n-born Canadian writer, director and actor.

Born in Cochin, Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

, into a Syrian Christian family ("Varughese," also sometimes spelled "Varghese" and "Verghese" and variously pronounced, is Malayalam for "George"), he immigrated to Saskatoon

Saskatoon

Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....

, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 as a child when his neurosurgeon father obtained a professional appointment there. His family's native language is Malayalam; having grown up in anglophone western Canada he naturally speaks English with a Canadian accent but from time to time affects an assortment of South Asian accents when playing dramatic roles that call for them.

Background

Sugith Varughese was raised in Saskatoon, began university studies at the University of Saskatchewan

University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...

 in Saskatoon with a double major in pre-medicine and drama, and continued on to an undergraduate degree in drama at the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 in Minneapolis and a Master of Fine Arts at York University

York University

York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. He went on to write, act in and direct film and television productions in both Canada and the USA. As a director, he has been nominated for and won several Canadian film and television and international film festival awards. He holds a black belt in karate.

Television

• As a television actor: "Little Mosque on the Prairie", "The Border" “Kevin Hill”; “Solar Strike”; "Metropia" “Peep”; “Degrassi: The Next Generation"; “I Want Candy”; “A Question”; “An American in Canada”; “Doc”; “Veritas: The Quest”; “Street Time”; “Get a Clue”; “Snap Decision”; “Blue Murder”; “A Colder Kind of Death”; “Tagged: The Jonathan Wamback Story”; “Relic Hunter”; “Deliberate Intent”; “Falcone”; “Mission to Mars”; “The Spreading Ground”; “Tribulation”; “Lethal Vows”; “Freak City”; “The Defenders: Taking the First”; “Naked City: Justice with a Bullet”; “A Father for Brittany”; “Earth: Final Conflict”; “Major Crime”; “Too Close to Home”; “PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal”; “F/X: The Series”; “Nancy Drew”; “RoboCop”; “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues”; “Quiet Killer”; “Counterstrike”; “Inside Stories: Home on the Range”; “Night Heat”; “Blindside”; “Best of Both Worlds”; “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank.”

Stage

• As a stage actor: "Tideline" (Factory Theatre); "Bhopal" (Cahoots Theatre); and "Indian Ink" (CanStage/National Arts Centre).

Scriptwriting

• As scriptwriter: “The Girl Who Hated Books”; “Mind Me Good Now”; “Tongue Tied”; “The Blobheads”; “Roses Sing on New Snow”; “Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance”; “Blue Murder”;“Christopher, Please Clean Up Your Room!”; “Talespinners Collection I”; “The Magic of Anansi”; “Lights for Gita”; “From Far Away”; “Groundling Marsh”; “On My Mind”; “Mela's Lunch”; “Kumar and Mr. Jones”; “Mount Royal”; “Best of Both Worlds”; “Fraggle Rock” and "Entry Denied," a CBC radio play detailing the unsuccessful attempt by 376 Punjabi immigrants aboard the Komagata Maru
  Komagata Maru
  The Komagata Maru incident involved a Japanese steamship, the Komagata Maru, that sailed from Hong Kong to Shanghai, China; Yokohama, Japan; and then to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1914, carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, India. The 356 of passengers were not allowed to land in...
  
   to land in Vancouver in 1914 and the Canadian government's turning them back to India.

External links

• From Far Away, Lights for Gita and The Magic of Anansi, National Film Board of Canada
  National Film Board of Canada
  The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
  
   website.