Catherine Bruhier (born 31 May 1972) is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. Born in Belize, she was raised in New Brunswick and has worked in Canada and the United States.

Early life and education

Catherine Bruhier was born in

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, Central America (formerly British Honduras). Her mother and father were both born and raised in Belize. Her family moved to

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

when she was an infant. She has a sister named Emily Bruhier. After graduating from Saint John High School and winning a scholarship and an artistic award, she moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

to pursue her acting career. A graduate of the

George Brown College George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...

Theatre program, she also attended

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. She studied in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with director Jim Pasternak.

Career

One of Bruhier's earlier achievements was on the main stage of

Theatre New Brunswick Theatre New Brunswick is the only English language professional theatre company in New Brunswick, Canada. It began operation in 1968, and has been successfully operating since that time. Artistic directors *Walter Learning (1968-1978) *Malcolm Bla ...

, in David French's two-cast member equity play (which ran at Theatre New Brunswick's main stage) ''Salt-Water Moon,'' directed by playwright Sharon Pollock and co-starring Eric McCormack from '' Will & Grace'' fame. Based on her experience in ''Salt-Water Moon,'' she wrote an article called "Darkness Visible" published in the September '90 issue of ''Theatrum Magazine''. She was one of eight directors in Canada chosen to attend the 2010 Women in the Directors Chair at the Banff Arts Centre. Bruhier was an invited jury member of the Canadian Academy Of Cinema And Television, choosing the performers to be nominated for the 1995 Gemini Awards. She is a member of Canadian Actors Equity Association (CAEA), Alliance of Canadian Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA),

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

, and previously a member of Women in Film Toronto and the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto.

Stage work

Bruhier has performed leading roles in theatres across Canada, most notably: Shaw Festival; Grand Theatre London;

Factory Theatre Factory Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded as Factory Theatre Lab in 1970 by Ken Gass and Frank Trotz, and it was run for almost 20 years by Dian English. Factory was the first theatre to announce that it would ...

; Theatre Passe Muraille; Theatre Aquarius;

Mainstage & Young Company; Theatre Plus Toronto; and the Dora awarded production of the teen play, ''Carrying the Calf''.

Screen work

Her most notable role was starring in 3 seasons as Elaine Besbriss on the Paul Haggis created series ''

Due South ''Due South'' is a Canadian crime comedy-drama television series created by Paul Haggis, and produced by Alliance Communications from its premiere on April 26, 1994, to its conclusion after four seasons on March 14, 1999. The series starred Pau ...

''. She co-hosted two seasons of the children's program ''The Polka Dot Door'', which also aired around the world. Other screen credits include: Rookie Blue (ABC), Flashpoint (CTV/CBS), Soulfood (Showtime), Yes Dear (CBS), Frasier (NBC), Angela's Eyes & Missing for (Lifetime), Forever Knight (USA/CBS) – and recurring on the ABC soap Port Charles. Bruhier recently played the supporting role in the Universal Studios sequel The Best Man Holiday as Dr. Perkins (directed by

Malcolm D. Lee Malcolm D. Lee (born January 11, 1970) is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing numerous comedy films, including '' The Best Man'' (1999), ''Undercover Brother'' (2002), ''Roll Bounce'' (2005), ''Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins'' (2008), ...

Filmmaker

Her short film, ''The Sacrifice'', filmed in Los Angeles through Screen Actors Guild, marked her directorial debut and first project from co-founded production company Breaking Ground Productions. To date the film has screened at 12 festivals and has won four awards. While living in Toronto, she was one of the 2011 grant recipients of the Ontario Art Councils Emerging Filmmakers Grant to direct her 2nd short film Clean Teeth Wednesdays which has screened at seven festivals, and the young lead actress was nominated for a 2014 Young Artist Award.http://hollywoodblackff.festivalgenius.com/2013/films/cleanteethwednesdays_catherinebruhier_hollywoodblackff2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruhier, Catherine Living people 21st-century Canadian actresses Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses 1972 births Belizean emigrants