Background and career
Russell Dominic Peters (born 29 September 1970) is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid comedians, and became the first comedian to get a Netflix stand-up special. He also won the Peabody Award and the International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming for producing Hip-Hop Evolution (2016). He lives in Los Angeles.
Russell Dominic Peters was born on 29 September 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, to immigrant parents from India. His parents Eric and Maureen Peters are of Anglo-Indian descent, who had moved to Canada in 1965 from Jalandhar and Kolkata respectively. His extended family lives in Bhopal, India. Peters was raised Catholic.
When Peters was four, he and his family moved to Brampton. He attended Chinguacousy Secondary School for grades 9–10, before transferring to a trade school as recommended by a guidance counsellor for impulsivity and inattention to North Peel Secondary School in Bramalea for grades 11–12. In school, he was regularly bullied because of his ethnicity. He eventually learned boxing, which helped him resist the bullying. He was undiagnosed for ADHD at the time. Peters also became a fan of hip hop in his youth. By the 1990s, he was a well-connected DJ in the Toronto scene.
In 1992, Peters met American comedian George Carlin, one of his biggest influences, who advised him to get on stage whenever and wherever possible. Peters said he "took that advice to heart, and I think that's the reason I am where I am now." In 2007, 15 years later, he hosted one of Carlin's last shows before the comedian's death the following year.
On 28 September 2013, Peters was awarded the 2013 Trailblazer award by the Association of South Asians in Media, Marketing and Entertainment (ASAMME) for good contributions to comedy. He is among the first South Asian Americans to achieve international success in the field.
How Russell Peters makes money
According to Forbes, Peters earned an estimated $15 million between June 2009 and June 2010, continuing his run as one of the highest-paid comedians, after earning an estimated $5 million the prior year. In 2013, he earned $21 million, according to Forbes' estimate. In 2010, Peters established the Russell Peters North Peel Scholarship, an award worth up to CA$21,000 and intended to finance up to three years of college.
