Billy merasty biography

Canadian actor

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

Tantoo Cardinal

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 hunter and champion dogsled racer;^[1] and related to playwright Tomson Highway and dancer, choreographer, actor, and director René Highway.^[2]

Career

Merasty moved to Toronto at the age of 18 in search of René Highway, who was then working for the Toronto Dance Theatre.^[3] At the age of 23, he launched his acting career after graduating from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre for aspiring First Nations artists.^[4] He then worked for the Native Earth Performing Arts for a long period.^[4]

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 Billy Merasty - The Movie Database (TMDB) GYD