Raoul Bhaneja

2021-08-21T18:54:47Z

2600:1700:87E0:3290:B819:813B:4433:151A: /* Filmography */

{{Short description|Canadian actor and musician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=October 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2012}}
{{More footnotes|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox person
|image =
| name = Raoul Bhaneja
| birth_place = [[Manchester]], [[Greater Manchester]], [[England]]
| nationality = [[British people|British]], [[Canadian]]
| education = [[Canterbury High School (Ottawa)]]<br />[[National Theatre School of Canada]]<br />[[British American Drama Academy]]
| occupation = Actor, musician, producer, broadcaster
| years_active = 1996–
| website = {{URL|www.raoulbhaneja.com/}}
}}

'''Raoul Bhaneja''' is an [[English-Canadian]] actor, musician, writer and producer.

==Early life and studies==
Bhaneja was born in Manchester. His father is South Asian (of [[Sindhis|Sindhi ancestry]]) and mother is [[Irish people|Irish]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raoulbhaneja.com|title=Raoul Bhaneja|publisher=Raoulbhaneja.com|accessdate=November 13, 2014}}</ref> A graduate of [[National Theatre School of Canada|The National Theatre School of Canada]] and Ottawa's [[Canterbury High School (Ottawa)|Canterbury High School]]'s Arts Canterbury programme for drama.

==Career==
{{BLP unsourced section|date=May 2019}}
Raoul Bhaneja has appeared in more than a hundred and twenty different film and television projects in addition to a long list of theatre productions.

His first job in television was in the first season of the 1996 cutting edge comedy ''[[The Newsroom (Canadian TV series)|The Newsroom]]'', directed by Ken Finkleman for CBC. He was one of the stars of the television series ''[[Train 48]]'', which produced over 300 episodes in two years and was broadcast on [[Global Television Network|Global]].

Bhaneja's first starring role in a feature film was with [[Andy Jones (comedian)|Andy Jones]] and [[Mary Walsh (actress)|Mary Walsh]] in ''[[Extraordinary Visitor]]'' in 1998. Directed by John Doyle, it debuted at The Toronto International Film Festival. Other features include Atom Egoyan's ''[[Ararat (film)|Ararat]]'', ''[[The Sentinel (2006 film)|The Sentinel]]'' opposite [[Michael Douglas]] , [[Godsend (2004 film)|Godsend]] with Rebecca Romin, ''[[Touch of Pink]]'' with [[Jimi Mistry]] and [[Kyle MacLachlan]], ''[[Weirdsville]]'' with [[Wes Bentley]], the romantic comedy ''[[The Right Kind of Wrong (film)|The Right Kind of Wrong]]'', the U.S. independent film As Good As You, [[Portrait of a Serial Monogamist]], [[Ice Soldiers]], ''[[Miss Sloane]]'', opposite [[Jessica Chastain]], HBO Films [[Fahrenheit 451 (2018 film)|Fahrenheit 451]] and the 2020 Sundance breakout [[Possessor (film)|Possessor]] opposite [[Christopher Abbott|Christopher Abbot]].

His television roles include recurring as the crooked Southern lawyer Richard Shirley on [[Blindspot (TV series)|Blindspot]] (NBC), [[Titans (2018 TV series)|Titans]] (Netflix), [[Departure (TV series)|Departure]] (Peacock/GlobalTV), ''[[The Dresden Files (TV series)|The Dresden Files]]'' (SyFy), Pure (WGN), Rogue (Direct), The Best Laid Plans, Crawford, Sunshine Sketches, ''[[At The Hotel]]'' (CBC) with guest-star appearances on [[Grey's Anatomy]] (ABC), [[Hudson & Rex|Hudson and Rex]] (CITY), [[V Wars|V-Wars]] (Syfy), ''[[Rookie Blue]]'' (Global & ABC), [[Remedy (TV series)|Remedy]] (Global), ''[[Motive (TV series)|Motive]]'' (CTV), Beauty and The Beast, ''[[Nikita (2010 TV series)|Nikita]]'' (The CW), Bitten, ''[[Alphas]]'' (Syfy), ''[[Warehouse 13]]'' (Syfy), [[Frankie Drake Mysteries|Frankie Drake]], The Ron James Show, [[Republic of Doyle|The Republic of Doyle]] , ''[[Murdoch Mysteries]]'' (CBC), [[Private Eyes (TV series)|Private Eyes]], ''[[Saving Hope]]'' (CTV), ''[[The Listener (TV series)|The Listener]]'' (CTV), ''[[Flashpoint (TV series)|Flashpoint]]'' (CTV), [[The Art of More]] (Sony Crackle), [[Suits (American TV series)|Suits]] (USA) and many others.

In January of 2006 Bhaneja debuted in ''Hamlet (solo)'', a one-man version of Shakespeare's ''[[Hamlet]]'' directed by Robert Ross Parker, which has been performed across Canada including an engagement at [[National Arts Centre|The National Arts Centre]] in the fall of 2013, in the United Kingdom at The Assembly Rooms as part of the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]] and [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art|The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] as well as in [[New York City]] on a number of occasions, including Off Broadway. The production is the subject of a documentary, directed by Jeff Stephenson, that was later nominated for the 2008 [[Gemini Award]].

His stage musical ''Life, Death and The Blues'', produced in association with [[Theatre Passe Muraille]] in Toronto, toured across Canada for more than a hundred performances and played to more than 20,000 patrons. Described as a "theatre/concert hybrid," the [[Dora Mavor Moore Award]] and Betty Mitchell Award production featured a live band on stage and Raoul Bhaneja's co-star, [[Juno Award|Juno-Award]]-winner [[Divine Brown]]. That successful production was followed by the hit play [[Disgraced]] by Ayad Akhtar, co-produced with [[Mirvish Productions]], which smashed box-office records in two separate runs in Toronto at the Panasonic Theatre as well as at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. Bhaneja was joined on stage by his wife Birgitte Solem. He later produced the Canadian premiere of Vietgone by Qui Nguyen at [[Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre]] in Winnipeg.

==Music==
{{BLP unsourced section|date=May 2019}}
Bhaneja is also the front man of the [[Maple Blues Awards|Maple Blues Award]]-winning [[blues]] band Raoul and The Big Time, formed in 1998. They have released ''Big Time Blues'' (2000), ''Cold Outside'' (2004), You My People (2009), Blue Midnight: A Live Tribute Little Walter (2010) through [[Big Time Records]] and Maple Blues Award nominated Hollywood Blvd (2014) recorded with members of [[Canned Heat]] and [[Mavis Staples|The Mavis Staples Band]] among others. In late 2019 he released "A Good Thing" the debut album from Blue Standard, a jazz duo formed with pianist Jesse Whiteley. Bhaneja is also a member of the band The Legendary Miles Johnson with [[Edmonton]]-based musician Graham Guest and has appeared as a guest artist on a number of recordings. In 2020 he began hosting "Raoul's Blues" a two hour blues music and interview broadcast on Jazzcast a 24 hour streaming station.

==Filmography==
*''[[Twitch City]]'' (1998; TV series) as Fred
*''[[Extraordinary Visitor]]'' (1999)
*''[[Braceface]]'' (2001; TV series; voice)
*''[[Medabots]]'' (2001; TV series; voice)
*''[[Ararat (film)|Ararat]]'' ([[2002 in film|2002]])
*''[[Beyblade (manga)|Beyblade]]'' (2002–05; TV series; voice)
*''[[Cold Creek Manor]]'' ([[2003 in film|2003]])
*''[[Train 48]]'' (2003–05; TV series)
*''[[Weirdsville]]'' ([[2006 in film|2006]])
*''[[The Sentinel (2006 film)|The Sentinel]]'' (2006)
*''[[The Dresden Files (TV series)|The Dresden Files]]'' ([[2007 in film|2007]])
*''[[The Right Kind of Wrong (film)|The Right Kind of Wrong]]'' (2013)
*''[[The Best Laid Plans (TV series)|The Best Laid Plans]]'' (2014)
*''[[Portrait of a Serial Monogamist]]'' (2015)
*''[[Miss Sloane]]'' (2016)
*''[[Possessor (film)|Possessor]]'' (2020)
*''[[Clarice (TV series)|Clarice]]'' (2021)
*''[[Langdon (TV series)|Langdon]]'' (2021)
*''[[Lamya's Poem]]'' (2021)
*''[[PAW Patrol: The Movie]]'' (2021)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website}}
*{{IMDb name|0080212}}
*[http://www.hamletsolo.com/ Official website – ''Hamlet (solo)'']
*[http://www.raoulandthebigtime.com/ Official website – Raoul and the Big Time]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhaneja, Raoul}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian musicians]]
[[Category:Male actors from Manchester]]
[[Category:Male actors from Ontario]]
[[Category:Canadian blues singers]]
[[Category:Canadian male film actors]]
[[Category:Canadian male stage actors]]
[[Category:Canadian male television actors]]
[[Category:Canadian television directors]]
[[Category:Canadian male voice actors]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian people of English descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Canadian male actors of Indian descent]]

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Raoul Bhaneja