Lisa Ray

For the Indian American actress and fashion designer known professionally as LisaRaye, see LisaRaye McCoy.

Lisa Ray
The headshots of Lisa Ray's twitter
Born (1972-04-04) 4 April 1972 (age 52)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
Years active1991–present
Spouse
Jason Dehni
​
(m. 2012)​
Children2
Websitelisaraywrites.com

Lisa Rani Ray (born 4 April 1972)[1] is a Canadian actress. She began her modelling career in India in the early 1990s, appearing for leading Indian brands like Bombay Dyeing and Lakmé. She made her acting debut in 1994 in the film Hanste Khelte. Through her acting career, Ray has demonstrated a penchant for issue-oriented portrayals, most notably in the 2005 Oscar-nominated Canadian film Water and the award-winning South African feature The World Unseen, described by a reviewer as "one of the best-conceived queer films of the past year."[2]

In 2009, Ray was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of blood cancer.[3] She began writing The Yellow Diaries, a blog about her experiences of having cancer.[4] Her writing and columns have since regularly appeared in multiple major publications.[5][6] Ray remains an active advocate of stem-cell therapy[7] and has participated in several successful fundraisers and cancer awareness campaigns.

In 2011, Ray began hosting a popular travel show on Discovery Channel India[8] alongside appearing as host and judge in Food Network's highest rated show, Top Chef Canada.[9]

In 2016, Ray opened an Instagram account dedicated to poetry.[10] In March 2019, Ray participated as a panelist on the 2019 edition of Canada Reads where she advocated for David Chariandy's award-winning second novel, Brother.[11]

  1. ^ "Lisa Ray Profile". worldfilm.about.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Review of "The World Unseen"". AfterEllen. 29 January 2008. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  3. ^ "A global actress reveals her private fight: An incurable cancer, a determined spirit". Archived from the original on 17 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  4. ^ "The Yellow Diaries". Lisa Ray. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  5. ^ Ray, Lisa (30 January 2015). "Whose water is it anyway, writes Lisa Ray". DNA India. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Ray of Hope". Vogue India. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Lisa Ray emerges 'enriched' from battle with cancer". Archived from the original on 21 March 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  8. ^ Bureau, Adgully. adgully.com https://web.archive.org/web/20191107074219/https://www.adgully.com/lisa-ray-to-show-her-quest-for-gold-tlc-launches-oh-my-gold-47079.html. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ "Television: Top Chef Canada's New Host". Shaw Media Inc. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  10. ^ ScoopWhoop (21 July 2016). "Lisa Ray Is Flirting With Poetry on Instagram & We Can't Have Enough of Her Beautiful Verses". scoopwhoop.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  11. ^ Patrick, Ryan B. (11 March 2019). "Why Canada Reads panellist Lisa Ray loves books with lyrical writing and poetic prose". CBC. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.