Kavi Raz

Kavi Raz, born in Punjab and raised in Britain after his family moved there when he was a child, is an actor, filmmaker, writer and producer. He helped found the Wandering Players' Theatre Company and served as its artistic director, staging American and world premieres of plays from India and making it the country's first professional South Asian theater company. Arriving in Hollywood in the mid 1970s, he became the first South Asian performer signed as a regular on a major network series, playing Dr. VJ Kochar, an anesthesiologist, on St. Elsewhere across its first two seasons and later in recurring appearances. He also took guest roles on Our House and Star Trek: The Next Generation, and he appeared opposite Joe Odagiri and Chloe Snyder in Atsushi Funahashi's 2005 film Big River. He founded K. R. Films Hollywood in 1978 and later built K. R. Studios in Granada Hills, and his own filmmaking began with The Gold Bracelet.