One of the best talent in Toronto

Russell Peters was born in Toronto, Ontario to Eric and Maureen Peters, and raised in Brampton. He is of Anglo-Indian descent. His father was born in Bombay, India and worked as a federal meat inspector and his mother was born in Calcutta, India. He has an older brother named Clayton who was also born in Calcutta.

He went to Georges Vanier Catholic Elementary School from kindergarten to grade 8 and North Peel Secondary School for grades 9-12 in Brampton.

Career

Peters began performing in Toronto, Ontario in 1989. He has since also performed in the UK, Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Denmark, South Africa, the Caribbean, Vietnam, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sweden, India, UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, and the United States Trinidad among other places.

He has been nominated for four Gemini Awards, the Canadian television awards. He has also been nominated for Best Male Comic at the Canadian Comedy Awards. Peters has been featured at such shows as Montreal's Just for Laughs (Juste Pour Rire) Comedy Festival, the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival. He hosted the Canada Day Comedy Festival 2006.



His comedy special Russell Peters: Outsourced, aired on Comedy Central on August 16, 2006. The DVD version features his uncensored performance. The DVD has been popular, especially in Canada, selling over 100,000 copies. Outsourced remained on the National DVD Chart over one and a half years after release.

Peters' DVD/CD combo Russell Peters: Red, White, and Brown was recorded on February 2, 2008 at The WAMU Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Peters and his brother self-produced and financed Red, White and Brown. Peters also currently produces and stars on the radio situation comedy series, Monsoon House, on CBC Radio One.



Peters has also appeared in a few films, most recently "Senior Skip Day" also starring Larry Miller, Tara Reid & Gary Lundy. Besides these, Peters has also had short appearances in the 1994 film Boozecan as Snake's Friend, the 1999 film Tiger Claws III as Detective Elliott, the 1999 film "Analyze This," the 2004 film My Baby's Daddy as the obstetrician, the 2006 film Quarter Life Crisis as Dilip Kumar, the 2007 film The Take as Dr. Sharma, and the 2008 film Senior Skip Day as Uncle Todd. Peters is also listed for his appearances in two upcoming films. He is scheduled to star as "Pervius" in National Lampoon's The Legend of Awesomest Maximus.
Popularity

Peters' popularity extends to several countries. In Canada, Peters became the first comedian to be sold out at Toronto's Air Canada Centre,[10] with more than 15,000 tickets in two days for the single show. He ended up selling over 30,000 tickets nationally over the two-day sales period. A total of over 60,000 tickets were sold across six cities.

Awards and recognitions

* 1997 - Nomination for the Gemini Award in the category "Best Individual Performance in a Comedy Program or Series". This was for Show Me The Funny, from the TV-series Comics! (1997)[11]
* 2004 - Nomination for a Gemini Award for his Comedy Now! special.
* 2008 - Nomination for a Gemini Award for hosting The Junos.
* 2008 - Winner of a Gemini Award for 'Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series'.