Billy Merasty
Acting • Born 1960-01-01
Biography
Billy Merasty is an actor, playwright, Cree translator, and language keeper. He was born to Viola and Pierre Merasty in 1960 in Brochet, Manitoba. His grandfather was Joe Highway, a famous caribou hunter and champion dogsled racer. He moved to Toronto at age eighteen in search for his uncle René Highway, who was at the time working for the Toronto Dance Theatre. At age twenty-three Billy launched his acting career after graduating from the Native Theatre School for aspiring Indigenous artists. He then went on to work for the renowned Indigenous performing arts company Native Earth Performing Arts. Billy has worked as a film, television, and stage actor for decades and notably played the first Indigenous gay character on television on the CBC series, Liberty Street, in the role of Nathan. Billy received the Order of Manitoba (Order of the Buffalo Hunt) in recognition for his many years as an Indigenous role model in 2010.
Filmography
41 credits
Exotica
Movie • 1994
Man at opera
Northern Lights
Movie • 2009
Jacob
The Big White
Movie • 2005
Cam
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Movie • 2007
Young Man Afraid
Pocahontas: The Legend
Movie • 1995
Kocoum
Battle of the Brave
Movie • 2004
Owashak
Café Daughter
Movie • 2023
Amos Horseknife
Les Légendes du Grand Nord
Movie • 1995
Mawaki
The New World
Movie • 2005
Kiskiak
The Shaman's Source
Movie • 1990
Mathew Hare
Stellar
Movie • 2022
Auntie 1
Honey Moccasin
Movie • 1998
Zachary John
The Broken Cord
Movie • 1992
Frank Cree
Snake Treaty
Movie • 1989
Elijah
Movie • 2008
Elijah Harper
Aberdeen
Movie • 2024
Alfred
It Chapter Two
Movie • 2019
Shokopiwah Man
The Confessional
Movie • 1995
Moose
Heritage Minutes: Queenston Heights
Movie • 2013
John Norton
The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw
Movie • 2019
William Bearclaw
X-Rated
Movie • 1994
Nathan Jones
Stardom
Movie • 2000
The Virginian
Movie • 2000
Lee Talltrees
Falls Around Her
Movie • 2018
Draven
Justice Denied
Movie • 1989
Donald Marshall, Jr.
Casino Jack
Movie • 2010
Bartender
Liberty Street
TV • 1995
Nathan Jones
Moose TV
TV • 2007
Wonderfalls
TV • 2004
Jerry
No Price Too High
TV • 1995
Acting Good
TV • 2022
Roger Laughingstick
Moby Dick
TV • 2011
Tashtego
Relic Hunter
TV • 1999
Inuit Hunter
This Is Wonderland
TV • 2004
Brian Perot (as William Merasty)
Diggstown
TV • 2019
Chief Thomas
Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis
TV • 2006
John Cree
Cardinal
TV • 2017
Billy Ralph Northwind
American Experience
TV • 1988
Warrior
Mixed Blessings
TV • 2007
Mark
SkyMed
TV • 2022
Glen
Murdoch Mysteries
TV • 2008
Gravekeeper Gary Cardinal