Billy Merasty (born 1960) is an Aboriginal Canadian actor and writer of

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations. In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree o ...

descent.

Early life

Merasty was born in Brochet, Manitoba, Canada. He is the ninth of fourteen siblings born to Viola and Pierre Merasty, and a grandson of Joe Highway, a famous

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

hunter and champion dogsled racer; and related to playwright

Tomson Highway Tomson Highway (born 6 December 1951) is an Indigenous Canadian playwright, novelist, and children's author. He is best known for his plays ''The Rez Sisters'' and ''Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing'', both of which won the Dora Mavor Moore ...

and dancer, choreographer, actor, and director

René Highway René Highway (November 6, 1954 – October 19, 1990) was an Indigenous Canadian dancer and actor of Cree descent from Brochet, Manitoba. He was the brother of playwright Tomson Highway, with whom he frequently collaborated during their t ...

Career

Merasty 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 anch ...

at the age of 18 in search of

, who was then working for the Toronto Dance Theatre. At the age of 23, he launched his acting career after graduating from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre for aspiring First Nations artists. He then worked for the

Native Earth Performing Arts Native Earth Performing Arts is a Canadian theatre company located in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1982, Native Earth is Canada's oldest professional Indigenous theatre company. Native Earth is dedicated to developing, producing and presenting pr ...

for a long period. Merasty has worked extensively on the stage and films as an actor and has written one play, ''Fireweed'', produced in 1992. His second play, ''Godly's Divinia'', is in development. In 2010, Merasty received the

Order of Manitoba The Order of Manitoba (french: Ordre du Manitoba) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Instituted in 1999 when Lieutenant Governor Peter Liba granted Royal Assent to The Order of Manitoba Act, the order is adminis ...

(Order of the Buffalo Hunt) in recognition for his many years as an Aboriginal role model from Manitoba.

Stage work

His stage credits include appearances in Tomson Highway's ''The Sage, The Dancer and the Fool'', ''

Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing ''Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing'' is a play by Canadian writer Tomson Highway (Cree), which premiered in 1989 at Theatre Passe-Muraille in Toronto. Character List * Nanabush (playing the spirit of Gazelle Nataways, Patsy Pegahmagahbow, and ...

'' and ''

The Rez Sisters ''The Rez Sisters'' is a two-act play by Canadian writer Tomson Highway (Cree), first performed on November 26, 1986, by Act IV Theatre Company and Native Earth Performing Arts. ''The Rez Sisters'' is partially inspired by Michel Tremblay's play ...

'',

Daniel David Moses Daniel David Moses (February 18, 1952 - July 13, 2020) was a First Nations poet and playwright from Canada. Moses was born in Ohsweken, Ontario, and raised on a farm on the Six Nations of the Grand River near Brantford, Ontario, Canada.Colin Bo ...

' ''The Indian Medicine Show'', Lanford Wilson's ''Rain Dance'', Marie Clements' ''Copper Thunderbird'', Kevin Loring's ''Where the Blood Mixes'', Steven Cole Hughes' ''Ghost Dance'' and David S. Craig's ''The Neverending Story''. In 2012, he performed the role of Gloucester in an all-aboriginal production of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

'' at the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one of a number of ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

, alongside a cast that also included August Schellenberg as Lear,

Tantoo Cardinal Tantoo Cardinal CM (born Rose Marie Cardinal; July 20, 1950) is a Canadian actress of Cree and Métis heritage. In 2009, she was made a member of the Order of Canada "for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing a ...

as Regan,

Jani Lauzon Jani Lauzon (born September 29, 1959) is a Canadian puppeteer and musician of Métis heritage from East Kootenay, British Columbia. She is a three-time Juno Award Nominee with Muppet Show credits that include additional puppetry on ''Follow ...

in a dual role as Cordelia and the Fool, and

Craig Lauzon Craig Lauzon is a Canadian actor, writer, comedian, and member of the Royal Canadian Air Farce. His main caricatures on the Farce include George Stroumboulopoulos, John Baird, Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper. Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Lauzon is ...

as Kent."Aboriginal cast in staging of King Lear"
''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The news ...

'', May 12, 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merasty, Billy Canadian male stage actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights First Nations male actors First Nations dramatists and playwrights People from Northern Region, Manitoba Living people Cree people 1960 births Canadian gay actors Male actors from Manitoba Writers from Manitoba LGBT First Nations people Canadian gay writers LGBT dramatists and playwrights Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century First Nations writers 21st-century LGBT people