Morris Panych is an award-winning Vancouver playwright, actor, and director. Born in Calgary in 1952, Panych received a diploma in Radio and Television Arts from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1973 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UBC in 1977. He has since performed in and directed many stage productions and became a prolific writer of original plays in which he has acted, directed, and produced. His first play, Last Call, A Post-Nuclear Cabaret, was nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Toronto). Other plays by Panych include Contagious (1984), Cheap Sentiment (1985), and Simple Folk (1987). During the early 1990s, Panych wrote plays for young people, including The Cost of Living (1990) and 2B WUT UR (1991). Panych was artistic director for Vancouver's Tamahnous Theatre from 1984 to 1986. Shortly after that, he won seven Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards to produce his play 7 Stories (1989). In addition, Panych has received Jessie awards for acting in and directing the works of other playwrights, most notably for his direction of Sweeney Todd (2000). In 1994 he received the Governor-General's Award for Drama for his play The Ends of the Earth. Panych has continued to write, and six books of his plays have been published by Talon Books (Vancouver). These include 7 Stories (1990), The Ends of the Earth (1993), Other Schools of Thought (including Life Science, 2B WUT UR, and The Cost of Living) (1994), Vigil (1997), Lawrence & Holloman (1998), and Earshot (2001). In addition, Panych has appeared in film and television productions.