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Raymond Ablack is a Canadian comedian and actor, who began his acting career as a child with the role of Young Simba in the stage musical “The Lion King,” performed at the Princess of Wales Theater in Toronto. He is perhaps best known for his appearance in the TV series “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”
Age, Early Life, and Education Background
Raymond Ablack was born under the Scorpio zodiac sign on 12 November 1989, in Toronto, Ontario, and is 34 years old as of 2023. Although he hasn’t revealed the names of his parents, he is fond of tweeting about them, and in August 2020 revealed that his mom is Muslim whereas his dad follows the Hindu religion. Ablack was brought up alongside his younger brother, Jared Ablack, who is an actor and hockey player, and two younger sisters, the actress, Rebecca Ablack, and the pro skater and fitness instructor, Cassandra Ablack, who previously worked for Figure Skating Boutique and Flexafit. Raymond appeared with Rebecca in the drama series “Ginny and Georgia.” Raymond was physically active as a child and used to play hockey.
Ablack attended a local high school before he enrolled at Ryerson University, in Toronto, Ontario, graduating with a BA in Media Production and Radio with an English minor. Thereafter, he joined The Second City, Toronto, where he studied Improvisation and Stand-Up Comedy. Additionally, Ablack completed a four-year choral music diploma at the Toronto-based arts high school Cardinal Carter Academy of the Arts.
Hobbies and Interests
As a child, Ablack was obsessed with the “Titanic” film’s theme, and loved listening to Celine Dion.
He is a generous man who has donated to various charities; in 2007, he traveled to Kenya with some of his “Degrassi: The Next Generation” castmates to help the humanitarian organizations Free the Children and Me to We construct educational facilities. Moreover, the actor has traveled to Ecuador and India to do charity work as seen on the MTV cable channel.
Raymond is a huge fan of hockey, and has revealed that he dreamt of becoming a sports anchor before he became an actor.
Career Beginnings
Ablack appeared in various advertisements and commercials as a child. In 2001, he portrayed Young Simba in the play “The Lion King” for a year. In 2007, Raymond caught the public’s attention when he began portraying Sav Bhandari in the Canadian teen drama TV series “Degrassi: The Next Generation.” The teen drama revolves around the lives of Degrassi Community School kids, who deal with taboos and other serious issues that plague the youths; it stars the likes of Miriam McDonald, Melissa McIntyre, and Drake. Ablack appeared in 118 episodes – five seasons – of the series (2007-2011). During his stint in “Degrassi: The Next Generation” Ablack appeared in its two film adaptations “Degrassi Goes Hollywood” (2009), and “Degrassi Takes Manhattan” in 2010.
Continued Success
In 2013, Ablack made his feature-length movie debut in the feature film “Fondi ‘91.” From 2013 to 2016, he portrayed Raj Singh in four episodes of the Canadian sci-fi drama “Orphan Black,” which is about Sarah Manning (portrayed by Tatiana Maslany) and her genetically identical clones. It raises issues about the ethical and moral implications of cloning humans highlighting its negative effects on identity, and stars Jordan Gavaris, Dylan Bruce and Kristian Bruun. From 2014 to 2017, Raymond portrayed Gabriel in Sara Tamosauskas and M. H. Murry’s Canadian web series “Teenagers,” alongside his “Degrassi” castmate, Chloe Rose.
Raymond played the recurring role of Raj in the American supernatural drama “Shadowhunters” (2016-2018), which is based on Cassandra Clare’s novel series “The Mortal Instruments.” He also appeared in several episodes of the Netflix crime drama “Narcos,” which was shot in Colombia – the first and second seasons follow the story of the infamous narcoterrorist and head of the dreaded Medellin Cartel, Pablo Escobar, and how he made billions of dollars through his cocaine production and distribution networks. Raymond shared the screen with Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, and Pedro Pascal in the Netflix series.
Raymond began portraying Joe in the Netflix comedy-drama “Ginny & Georgia” in 2021, sharing the screen with Brianne Howey, Felix Mallard, and Antonia Gentry. Ablack’s most recent film appearance was in the Canadian romantic drama “Stay the Night.” Most recently in 2023, Raymond appeared in 11 episodes of the CBC Television sitcom “Workin’ Moms.”
Awards and Nominations
Out of the ten awards he has been nominated for, Ablack has won five. In 2020, he scooped an Indie Short Fest Outstanding Achievement Award for producing the short film “The Beacons of Gondor,” a Seoul Web Fest Award for his works in the same film, and two Canada Shorts Film Festival Awards for Best Comedy and Best Writer for his contribution to “Inside the Actors Cult.” Ablack’s performance in the web series “Teenagers” saw him scoop an Indie Series Award in 2016 – he was nominated for the same award in 2018 for his performance in “Teenagers.”
Raymond is active on Instagram (@raymondablack) with over 400,000 followers. He joined Twitter in September 2009 (@RayAblack) and is currently followed by over 35,000 fans as of mid-2022. He’s not available on Facebook.
Personal Life
During a 2010 interview with “Seventeen” teen magazine, Raymond stated that he is a ‘one-woman man’ when he was asked how his dating life was, and revealed that he was dating a woman named Chani Gatto, with whom he attended the same school. The duo was involved with the humanitarian organization, Free the Children.
In 2019, Raymond began seeing the Toronto-based award-winning American documentary filmmaker and director, Jordan Steinhauer, who served as an associate producer for the CTV investigative documentary program, “W5.” Steinhauer is a well-educated woman – she graduated with a Performance and Communication diploma from the Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2016, and also holds a Journalism masters from Carleton University.
Height, Weight, and Physical Appearance
Ablack is of Indo-Guyanese roots and has a pair of dark brown eyes and black hair. He stands 6ft (1.83m) tall and weighs approximately 165lbs (75kgs).
Net Worth
Ablack has carved a niche for himself in the Canadian and American showbiz industries, which has made him famous and modestly wealthy. He’s reputedly worth approximately $3 million as of 2023.
