Sugith Varughese (born 25 April 1957) is an Indian-born Canadian writer, director and actor.

Background

Born in

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part ...

, Kerala,

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

into a Syriac Saint Thomas Christian family ("Varughese," also sometimes spelled " Varghese" and "Verghese" and variously pronounced, is Syriac-

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

for "George"), he immigrated to

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

, Saskatchewan as a child when his neurosurgeon father obtained a professional appointment there. His family's native language is

; 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. Sugith Varughese was raised in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

, began university studies at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

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 The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

and a Master of Fine Arts at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

in Toronto. He went on to write, act in and direct film and television productions in Canada and the USA. He was the first visible minority accepted to attend the Canadian Film Centre as a writer-director. As a director, he has been nominated for and won several Canadian film and television and international film festival awards.Internet Movie Database: Sugith Varughese
Retrieved 29 September 2007. He also holds a black belt in karate.

Credits

His credits include the following.

Acting

As a film and television actor: * More than 100 film and TV credits including "

Orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

", " Solar Attack" (as the character Patel), and " Mission to Mars". Other television credits include "Suits", "The Strain" and “'' Degrassi: The Next Generation''”. He was a series regular in the comedy CBC-TV's "

An American in Canada ''An American in Canada'' is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC Television in 2003 and 2004. The show starred Rick Roberts as Jake Crewe, an American television news host who was forced, after beating up his station manager, to accep ...

" aka "Frostbite" in Australia (Gemini nomination for Best Ensemble Performance) and played recurring characters in Omni TV's nighttime soap " Metropia", CBC-TV's "

Little Mosque on the Prairie ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Zarqa Nawaz and produced by WestWind Pictures, originally broadcast from 2007 to 2012 on CBC. Filmed in Toronto, Ontario, and Indian Head, Saskatchewan, the series was s ...

", season one of "The Girlfriend Experience" on Starz and “''

Kim's Convenience ''Kim's Convenience'' is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC Television from October 2016 to April 2021. It depicts the Korean Canadian Kim family that runs a convenience store in the Moss Park neighbourhood of Toronto: parents "Ap ...

''” on CBC-TV and Netflix, "''

Transplant Transplant or Transplantation may refer to: Sciences *Transplanting a plant from one location to another *Organ transplantation, moving an organ from one body to another *Transplant thought experiment, an experiment similar to Trolley problem *Tra ...

''" on CTV and NBC. He starred in "Home on the Range" for CBC-TV which won a gold prize for best TV pilot at the

Houston Film Festival The WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, founded in 1968, is an annual film festival held annually in April in Houston, Texas. Notable festival alumni include John Lee Hancock, who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film '' The Blind S ...

. He received an ACTRA Award nomination for his very first television role in the TV movie "Best of Both Worlds" for CBC-TV. Other credits include '' Veritas: The Quest''; '' F/X: The Series''; '' Kung Fu: The Legend Continues''; '' Overdrawn at the Memory Bank''; '' The Expanse''. and played the role of the informant on season 1 of 72 Hours (Ep.1 Burning Obsession). As a stage actor: * "The Men in White (Factory Theatre) * "Animal Farm" (Soulpepper Theatre) * "Little Pretty and the Exceptional" (Factory Theatre) ora award nomination for Outstanding Performance-male * "The Postman" (Panamania) lso co-writer * "The Container" (Summerworks), * "The Post Office" (Pleiades Theatre) * "Tideline" (Factory Theatre) * "Bhopal" (Cahoots Theatre) and * "Indian Ink" (CanStage/National Arts Centre).

Writing

Stage

* as playwright "The Postman" (co-writer, Panamania) and "Entitlement" (Summerworks)

Film and Television

* As scriptwriter: Animated shorts, "Talespinners Collection 1", Talespinners Collection 2" (NFB); Short film, "Tongue Tied"; TV series "The Blobheads" (YTV, 1 episode); IMAX documentary "Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance"; TV series "Blue Murder" (Global TV, 2 episodes); TV series "Groundling Marsh" (YTV, 1 episode); TV series "On My Mind" (TVOntario, 1 episode); Short film "Mela's Lunch" (NFB); Short film "Kumar and Mr. Jones" (Canadian Film Centre); TV series "Mount Royal" (CTV, 1 episode); TV movie "Best of Both Worlds" (CBC); TV series "Fraggle Rock" (Jim Henson Company) (10 episodes); TV series "The Phoenix Team" (CBC, 1 episode); radio drama "In the Mountains" (CBC Radio) based on Rohinton Mistry's novel "A Fine Balance"; radio drama "Entry Denied" (CBC Radio) which was Canada's entry in the Worldplay Festival and broadcast worldwide.Best Prices.com. "''Where Is Here? : A CBC Radio Drama Anthology''"
Retrieved 29 September 2007.

Awards

* Vaurghese has been nominated for a Writers Guild of Canada award five times and won a Writers Guild of Canada award for "Talespinners Collection 2" (NFB). He received a Gemini Award nomination for writing "The Secret Life of Goldfish". He was a finalist for an ACTRA Award for writing "Best of Both Worlds". He won the first York Trillium Award – Most Promising Writer, Television from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Directing

* "Tongue Tied" (independent comedy short) * "On My Mind" (half-hour children's television series for TVOntario) * "Mela's Lunch" (National Film Board of Canada) * “

Kumar and Mr. Jones ''Kumar and Mr. Jones'' is a Canadian short drama film, directed by Sugith Varughese and released in 1991.Sid Adilman, "Film centre sets up its library in Windfields stable". ''Toronto Star'', August 27, 1991. The film centres on the relationshi ...

” (Canadian Film Centre) – awarded Best Director, Atlantic Film Festival

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Varughese, Sugith 1958 births Male actors from Kochi Male actors from Saskatoon University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian people of Malayali descent Indian emigrants to Canada Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian screenwriters Writers from Kochi Writers from Saskatoon Canadian male actors of Indian descent Canadian Film Centre alumni