Billy Merasty (born 1960) is an

Aboriginal Canadian In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider them ...

actor and writer of

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

descent.

Early life

Merasty was born in

Brochet, Manitoba Brochet () is an unincorporated community located in Northern Manitoba on the northern shore of Reindeer Lake near the Saskatchewan border; it is designated as a northern community. There is no year-round road service to the mostly Cree populati ...

, 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 A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing. Traditionally in Greenland and the ...

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.

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 ancho ...

at the age of 18 in search of René Highway, who was then working for the

Toronto Dance Theatre The Toronto Dance Theatre is a Canadian modern dance company based in Toronto, Ontario. Described by ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' as "one of the foremost modern-dance companies in Canada", the company tours nationally and internationally and regula ...

. At the age of 23, he launched his acting career after graduating from the

Centre for Indigenous Theatre The Centre for Indigenous Theatre is a non-for profit theater educational institution located in Toronto, Ontario. It focuses on performance art from an Indigenous cultural foundation. History James H. Buller founded the Centre in 1974 as the ...

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 pro ...

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 (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 Lanford Wilson (April 13, 1937March 24, 2011) was an American playwright. His work, as described by ''The New York Times'', was "earthy, realist, greatly admired ndwidely performed." Fox, Margalit"Lanford Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright ...

's ''Rain Dance'',

Marie Clements Marie Clements (born January 10, 1962) See p. 147. is a Canadian Métis playwright, performer, director, producer and screenwriter. Marie was founding artistic director of urban ink productions, and is currently co-artistic director of red diva pr ...

' ''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 an ...

'' 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 core ...

, alongside a cast that also included

August Schellenberg August Werner Schellenberg (July 25, 1936 – August 15, 2013) was a Canadian actor. He played Randolph in the first three installments of the ''Free Willy'' film series (1993–1997) as well as characters in ''Black Robe'' (1991), '' The New Wor ...

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 ...

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 ''Follo ...

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 ...

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 (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'', 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