Zaib Shaikh (born May 25, 1974) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

actor, writer, and director. He was named Canada's Consul General 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 wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

in October 2018.

Career

Shaikh has appeared in '' Metropia'' and ''

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 ...

'', and as

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

city councillor Shakil Khan in '' Da Vinci's City Hall''. He is co-founder of the Whistler Theatre Project, and also writer and director of the CBC adaptation of ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

''. He appeared as Nadir Khan in Deepa Mehta's film adaptation of '' Midnight's Children''. He guest starred as Professor Mahmoud Bahmanyaron in an episode of ''

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick ...

'' which aired March 18, 2013.

Personal life

Shaikh was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, and is of Pakistani descent. He studied theatre at the Mississauga campus of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

and has a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west- Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Founded in ...

. While at UTM, Shaikh was a copy editor for the campus newspaper, ''The Medium''. He has a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts a ...

degree from the

. Since 2011, Shaikh has been married to

Kirstine Stewart Kirstine Stewart (born c. 1968) is a media executive and author who is currently the Head of Shaping the Future of Media at the World Economic Forum. She was formerly the head of English language services at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ...

, former managing director of

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

Canada. On May 29, 2014, Shaikh was named the film commissioner and director of entertainment industries for the City of Toronto."Toronto picks Zaib Shaikh, of Little Mosque fame, as film commissioner"
'' The Globe and Mail'', May 29, 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaikh, Zaib 1974 births Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Male actors from Toronto Sheridan College alumni University of British Columbia alumni Canadian male actors of Pakistani descent Canadian diplomats Canadian civil servants University of Toronto alumni Canadian television directors Consuls