Bhaneja, Raoul 1974-

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Bhaneja, Raoul 1974-

PERSONAL

Born June 6, 1974, in Manchester, England; raised in Bonn, Germany and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; father, Balwant "Bill" Bhaneja (a diplomat, writer, translator, and activist); married Birgitte Solem (an actress, producer, and director). Education: Graduate from the National Theatre School of Canada, 1996; studied at the British American Dramatic Academy; attended acting schools; graduated from Canterbury High School (performing arts high school).

Addresses:

Agent—Don Buchwald & Associates, 6500 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 2200, Los Angeles, CA 90048; Edna Talent Management, Ltd., 318 Dundas St. West, Toronto, Ontario MST 1G5, Canada.

Career:

Actor. Member of various theatre companies, including Company of Fools, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and Soulpepper Theatre Company, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; member of the international company of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London; former member of BOFA, the improv team of Canterbury High School; participated in a showcase offered by Theatre Ontario. Raoul and the Big Time (a blues band), singer, harmonica player, and guitarist; performer at various venues, including a residency at Blues on Bellair in Yorkville, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; also performed at festivals and other events.

Member:

Screen Actors Guild, Canadian Actors' Equity Association, Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA).

Awards, Honors:

National Arts Centre Award, Young Playwrights Search, c. 1993, for Michelangelo; Maple Blues Award (with Raoul and the Big Time), best new Canadian blues band, Toronto Blues Society, 1999; Real Blues magazine named the band Raoul and the Big Time best new talent, 2000, named the band's album Cold Outside one of the top Canadian blues CDs of 2004, named the band the best Canadian blues artist of 2004, named Bhaneja one of best Canadian blues songwriters in 2004, named Bhaneja one of the best Canadian blues harmonica players in 2004, and gave the band other honors; Raoul and the Big Time also named best blues artist, Now magazine (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), named best new artist, Stony Plain Recording Company, Ltd., and has received other awards and accolades; Christopher Plummer Artistic Fellowship, Shakespeare Globe Centre of Canada, c. 2002; for Savage Sensuality; Canadian Comedy Award nomination (with others), best live improvised show, 2002, for Sin City; Montreal English Critics Circle Award, best visiting production, 2006, for Hamlet (Solo).

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Adolphus Cusins, Major Barbara, National Theatre School of Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1995.

Ernie King and Eddie, Barn Dance Live (also known as Barndance Live, Barndance Live!, and Barndance, Live!), Blyth Festival, Blyth Memorial Hall, Blyth, Ontario, Canada, 1996.

Neel, Wedding Day at the Cro-Magnons' (workshop), National Arts Centre, English Theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 1996.

James, Booze Days in a Dry Country, Blyth Festival, 1997.

Oskar Kokoschka, Standing Female Nude, Storm Collective, c. 1998.

Yasha (a valet), The Cherry Orchard, Theatre Columbus, Canadian Stage Theatre (Upstairs), Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1998.

James, speak, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1999.

Various roles, including Austrian head of security, Drew, homeless Canadian man, and Tyrone Cummings (elocution expert), Sin City, Second City, Tim Sims Playhouse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, late 1990s and early 2000s, also produced at the Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival, Poor Alex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2002.

Alain, The School for Wives, Soulpepper Theatre Company, Premiere Dance Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2000.

Laertes, Hamlet, Studio Series, Halifax Neptune Theatre, duMaurier Theatre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2000.

Miles, The Drawer Boy (workshop), Blyth Festival, Blyth Workshop, 2000.

Various characters, Elizabeth Rex (workshop), Stratford Festival of Canada, Stratford, Ontario, Canada, 2000.

Various characters, Savage Sensuality, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London, c. 2002.

Leo Juarez, The Domino Heart, Tarragon Theatre, Extra Space, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2003.

Nabil and other characters, Helen's Necklace, Tarragon Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2004.

Various characters, Famous Last Words (workshop), Stratford Festival of Canada, c. 2004.

Various characters, Hamlet (Solo) (solo show), Hope and Hell Theatre Company, Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning 2006, and other productions, including Center Stage, New York City, 2006, Banff Summer Arts Festival, Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Margaret Greenham Theatre, Canada, 2006, New Classical Theatre Festival, Theatre Ste-Catherine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2006, Millfield Arts Centre, London, 2007, Assembly @ St. George's West, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2007, and Canoe Festival, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 2008.

Appeared in The Day They Kidnapped the Pope, and Stalag 17, both Ottawa Little Theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; as Malcolm, Macbeth, and as Ferdinand, The Tempest, both Ottawa Shakespeare Festival, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; as Joe, Flippin' In, Ground Zero Productions; appeared as Stuart, Beyond Therapy, as Georg and other characters, Class Acts, as Ra, Collective, as Etienne, A Flea in Her Ear, as Willy, Flora, the Red Menace (musical), as Silva Viccaro, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, and in All's Well That Ends Well, all National Theatre School of Canada; and as Azdak and the singer, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Canterbury Arts.

Major Tours:

Teddy Kildare, Sad Surgeon, Hope and Hell Theatre Company, Canadian cites, 1995.

Stage Work:

Coproducer, Standing Female Nude, Storm Collective, c. 1998.

Television Appearances; Series:

Voice of Baton (a robotic parrot), Medabots (anime; also known as Medarot), Fox, 2001-2004, also broadcast on ABC Family Channel and YTV (Canada), originally broadcast in Japan, 1999-2000.

Voice of Dion, Braceface (animated; also known as Sourire d'enfer), TeleToon, 2001-2005, ABC Family Channel, beginning 2001.

Detective Fred, Patti (also known as Patti Burns), The Comedy Network, 2002.

Voices of DJ Jazzman and Ronney, Bakuten shoot beyblade (anime; also known as Beyblade), ABC Family Channel, c. 2002-2003, also broadcast on other channels, including YTV (Canada), originally broadcast by TV Tokyo, 2001.

Voices of DJ Jazzman and Ronney, Beyblade 2002 (anime; also known as Bakuten shoot beyblade 2002 and Beyblade V-Force), ABC Family Channel, c. 2003-2004, also broadcast on other channels, including YTV (Canada), originally broadcast by TV Tokyo, 2002.

Peter "Pete" Subramani, Train 48, CanWest Global Television, 2003-2006.

Voices of DJ Jazzman and Ronney, Bakuten shoot beyblade G Revolution (anime; also known as Beyblade Grevolution), ABC Family Channel, c. 2004-2005, also broadcast on other channels, including YTV (Canada), originally broadcast by TV Tokyo, 2003.

Agent Raj Rao, Runaway, The CW, 2006.

Harry Jindal, At the Hotel (also known as Hotel and Hotel Metropolitan), CBC, 2006.

Detective Sid Kirmani, The Dresden Files, Sci-Fi Channel, 2007.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Roshan Javad, Cover Me, CBC, 1999.

Baldo Lupetino, "The War of Ideas," Secret Files of the Inquisition, PBS, 2006.

Garcia de Jalez, "The Tears of Spain," Secret Files of the Inquisition, PBS, 2006.

Charlie, The Summit, CBC, 2008.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Dr. Mike Strong, Happy Face Murders, Showtime, 1999.

Sidney Liebenthal, Recipe for Murder (also known as Murray Maguire, M.E.), PAX TV, 2001.

Clerk, Control Factor, Sci-Fi Channel, 2003.

James, Open House, CBS, 2003.

Alan Kenning, Open Heart (also known as Cradle Will Fall and A coeur ouvert), CBC, 2004.

Juan, Matters of Life and Dating, Lifetime, 2007.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Henry, I Am an Apartment Building, Bravo!FACT, 2006.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Veejay Sandhu, "Petty Tyranny," The Newsroom, CBC, 1996.

Fred, "I Look Like Joyce DeWitt," Twitch City, CBC and Bravo, 1998.

Fred, "People Who Fight Too Much," Twitch City, CBC and Bravo, 1998.

(Uncredited) Assistant, "Independence Day," Traders (also known as Haute finance), CanWest Global Television (Canada) and Lifetime, c. 1998.

Student leader, "Payback," Earth: Final Conflict (also known as EFC, Gene Roddenberry's "Battleground Earth," Gene Roddenberry's "Earth: Final Conflict," Invasion planete Terre, and Mission Erde: Sie sind unter uns), syndicated, 1999.

Vendor, "Infiltration," Total Recall 2070 (also known as Total Recall and Total Recall: The Series), Showtime and ON TV, 1999.

Himself, Open Mike with Mike Bullard (also known as The Mike Bullard Show and Open Mike), CanWest Global Television, 1999.

Raphael, "Eye of the Beholder," The Famous Jett Jackson, Disney Channel, 2000.

Raphael, "What You Wish for," The Famous Jett Jackson, Disney Channel, 2000.

Detective Richard Amos, "The Endless Grind of Seduction," The Endless Grind, CTV (Canada), 2001.

Floor director, "Celebrity," Foreign Objects, CBC, 2001.

Sal Da Silva, "Killing the Rat," The Associates, CTV (Canada), 2001.

Raj, "Lesser Evils," Street Time, Showtime, 2002.

Journalist, The Holmes Show, CTV (Canada), 2002.

Juan, The Gavin Crawford Show, The Comedy Network, 2003.

Jeeves, "Don't Have a Cow," The Eleventh Hour, CTV, 2003.

Voices of Dash Dawson and others, "Super Nerd Much?," Totally Spies! (animated; also known as Totally Spies and Totally Spies Undercover!), ABC Family Channel and TeleToon (Canada), 2004.

Voice, "The Incredible Bulk," Totally Spies! (animated; also known as Totally Spies and Totally Spies Undercover!), ABC Family Channel and TeleToon (Canada), 2004.

(With Raoul and the Big Time) Jazzland with Ross Porter, CoolTV, c. 2004.

Mr. Sampson, "Oedipus Dan," Puppets Who Kill, The Comedy Network, 2006.

Voices of Polidori, Pierre, and Schuyler, "Nightmare on Joe's Street," Time Warp Trio (animated), NBC and Discovery Kids, 2006.

Nigel, "Surviving Moose," Moose TV, Showcase, 2007.

Often with Raoul and the Big Time, appeared in other programs, including Breakfast Television (also known as BT), Citytv; Canada A.M. (also known as Canada A.M. Weekend), CTV (Canada); Daytime, Rogers Television; Kevin Hill, UPN; Metropia, Omni Television (Canada); and Studio 2, TVO (TVOntario, Canada).

Television Appearances; Pilots:

(Uncredited) Liquid Soapz, CBC, 2002.

Agent Raj Rao, Runaway, The CW, 2006.

Harry Jindal, "Welcome to the Rousseau," At the Hotel (also known as Hotel and Hotel Metropolitan), CBC, 2006.

Television Director; Episodic:

Directed episodes of Train 48, CanWest Global Television.

Film Appearances:

John the Baptist, Extraordinary Visitor (also known as Un visiteur extraordinaire), Nova Pictures/Cinema Esperanca International, 1998.

Sebastian, Violet, Alliance Atlantis Communications/Dark Flowers, 2000.

Detective Lee, Picture Claire (also known as Claire's Hat), Serendipity Point Films/DEJ Productions, 2001.

The photographer, Ararat, Alliance Atlantis Communications/Miramax, 2002.

Dermott, Dermott's Quest (short film), 2003.

Local, Cold Creek Manor (also known as The Devil's Throat and La maison au fond de la baie), Buena Vista, 2003.

Khaled, Touch of Pink (also known as That Touch of Pink, Um toque de rosa, Un soupcon de rose, and Un toque de rosa), Sony Pictures Classics, 2004.

Samir Miklat, Godsend (also known as Adam), Lions Gate Films, 2004.

Voice of DJ Jazzman, Bakuten shoot beyblade the Movie: Gekitou!! Takao vs. Daichi (anime; Beyblade: Fierce Battle—the Movie, Beyblade: The Movie—Fierce Battle, and Beyblade the Movie: Fierce Battle! Takao vs. Daichi), Miramax Home Entertainment/Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2005, originally released in Japan in 2002.

Aziz Hassad, The Sentinel, Twentieth Century-Fox, 2006.

Hassan, Just Visiting (short film), S & S Productions, 2006.

Omar, Weirdsville, Magnolia Pictures, 2007.

Himself, Hamlet (Solo) (documentary), S & S Productions, 2007.

Repossession Mambo, Universal, 2009.

Film Work:

Coproducer, Just Visiting (short film), S & S Productions, 2006.

Producer and cinematographer, Hamlet (Solo) (documentary), S & S Productions, 2007.

Radio Appearances:

(With Raoul and the Big Time) Ontario Today, CBC Radio One, 2003.

Voices of various characters, Steve, the First (series), CBC Radio One, 2005.

Voices of various characters, Steve, the Second (series), CBC Radio One, 2006.

Appeared in other productions, including appearances as Peter, Banquette, as various characters, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, as Kasudan, The First Christmas, and as Samuel, Mary Marvellous (also known as Mary Marvelous), all CBC Radio productions.

RECORDINGS

Albums; with Raoul and the Big Time:

Big Time Blues, 2000.

Cold Outside, Big Time Records, 2004.

Singles; with Raoul and the Big Time:

"Cold Outside," c. 2004.

"Baby Don't Stop," c. 2005.

Raoul and the Big Time's music has appeared in television programs and other productions.

Music Videos; with Raoul and the Big Time:

"Cold Outside," c. 2004.

"Baby Don't Stop," c. 2005.

Video Games:

Voice of DJ Jazzman, Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002 (anime; also known as Beyblade V-Force and Beyblade V-Force: Super Tournament Battle), Takara, 2002, Infogrames, 2003.

WRITINGS

Writings for the Stage:

Michelangelo, c. 1993.

(With Birgitte Solem) Sad Surgeon, Hope and Hell Theatre Company, tour of Canadian cites, 1995.

(With others) Sin City, Second City, Tim Sims Playhouse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, late 1990s and early 2000s, also produced at the Fringe of Toronto Theatre Festival, Poor Alex, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2002.

Hamlet (Solo) (solo show; based on the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare), Hope and Hell Theatre Company, Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning 2006, and other productions, including Center Stage, New York City, 2006, Banff Summer Arts Festival, Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Margaret Greenham Theatre, Canada, 2006, New Classical Theatre Festival, Theatre Ste-Catherine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2006, Millfield Arts Centre, London, 2007, Assembly @ St. George's West, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2007, and Canoe Festival, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 2008.

Created a piece about the blues for the Spring Arts Fair, Tarragon Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1999.