Deanne Bray
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Deanne Bray (born 14 May 1971) is a deaf actress who portrayed Sue Thomas in the show Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye.
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[edit] Personal
Bray was born in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California. and has spent most of her life in southern California, although she did live in Seattle for a few years with her mother. She is married to Troy Kotsur, who is also a deaf actor. On 8 September 2005 she gave birth to daughter Kyra Monique Kotsur, who weighed 7lb 11ozs.
Bray’s parents made certain their daughter was instructed from at an early age onward to speak and write English and learn American Sign Language as well, sending her through a variety of learning programs and centers to strengthen her language skills. A California native, Bray broke into the entertainment industry after she was discovered performing with a deaf dancing group called "Prism West" at a deaf festival at California State University, Northridge, where she earned a B.A. degree in Biology.
[edit] Deafness
She is profoundly deaf in her right ear and has a 78 dB loss in her left. She can hear a little with her left ear if she uses a hearing aid, though the hearing aid doesn't give her full hearing. She can read lips, sign ASL and speak, and thus considers herself bilingual: ASL and English. Her first deaf teacher was Lil Skinner at the age of three. She has never been sad over her hearing loss, and finds it a challenge dealing with people who feel sorry for her because of her deafness. She finds herself often caught in the middle between hearing and deaf culture.
Those who are hearing question why others who are deaf don't speak as well as she does, and those who are deaf feel she does not embrace deaf culture. In her own words "I have the worst in both worlds, but I do have the best in both, as well."
She has hosted a show for the deaf community, Caption This, and teaches math and science to deaf and hard of hearing high school students. She has also established a literacy program, The Little Bookworm Club.
[edit] Acting
Bray has appeared on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Ellen, Rescue Me and Diagnosis Murder. She also played Sue Thomas in the now-cancelled show Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye. This show is based on the true story of Sue Thomas, a woman who became deaf at the age of 18 months and overcame significant obstacles to work as an undercover surveillant at the FBI. She also played a deaf woman on one episode of a kids show, Animal ARK, where she could not hear a stray dog barking in her yard.
