Billy Merasty is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 actor and writer of Cree

Cree

The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...

 descent. He moved to Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 at the age of 17, and launched his acting career after attending a theatre school program for aboriginal

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 youth.

Since then, he has worked extensively on the stage as an actor and writer for Toronto's Native Earth Performing Arts

Native Earth Performing Arts

Native Earth Performing Arts is a Canadian theatre company located in Toronto. Founded in 1982, it is the oldest professional Aboriginal performing arts company in Canada...

. His credits include The Confessional, Exotica

Exotica (film)

Exotica is a 1994 Canadian film set primarily in and around the Exotica strip club in Toronto, Canada. It was written and directed by Atom Egoyan. Music used includes "Montagues and Capulets".-Synopsis:...

, Pocahontas: The Legend

Pocahontas: The Legend

Pocahontas: The Legend is a 1999 drama film that fictionalizes the young life of the historical figure of Chief Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas and her relationship with Captain John Smith. This film was directed by Danièle J. Suissa and stars Sandrine Holt as the titular heroine...

, TNT

Turner Network Television

Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...

's miniseries Into the West

Into the West (TV miniseries)

Into the West is a 2005 miniseries produced by Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks, with six two-hour episodes . The series was first broadcast in the U.S. on Turner Network Television on six Fridays starting on June 10, 2005...

, The New World and HBO's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (film)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a 2007 television film adapted from the book of the same name by Dee Brown. The film was written by Daniel Giat, directed by Yves Simoneau and produced by HBO Films. The book on which the movie is based is a history of Native Americans in the American West in the...

.

He has written two plays: Fireweed, (produced in 1992) and For Godly and Divinia (2001).

Merasty is openly gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

, and is related to playwright Tomson Highway

Tomson Highway

Tomson Highway, CM is a celebrated Canadian and Cree playwright, novelist, and children's author. He is the author of the plays The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, both of which won him the Dora Mavor Moore Award and the Floyd S...

 and dancer René Highway

René Highway

René Highway was a 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 time at Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto, and the partner of actor and singer Micah Barnes.Highway studied...

.

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