Billy Merasty

He was born a ninth child of fourteen children born to Viola Marie Merasty and Pierre Merasty in 1960 in Brochet, Manitoba, Canada. His grandfather was Joe Highway, a famous caribou hunter and champion dogsled racer. He is the nephew of playwright Tomson Highway and dancer/choreographer/actor/director René Highway. He moved to Toronto, Ontario 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 First Nations artists. He then worked for the Native Earth Performing Arts for a long period. Billy 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. Billy received the Order of Manitoba (Order of the Buffalo Hunt) in recognition for his many years as an Aboriginal role model from Manitoba in 2010.