Troy Kotsur
Troy Kotsur (born c. 1968) is a deaf American actor.
Personal life
Kotsur was born and raised in the city of Mesa, Arizona. He has been deaf since his birth. He went to Gallaudet University to major in Theater from 1987-1989. Additionally, he attended Mesa College, Pierce College and American River College to study acting and was an intern at KTSP-TV in Phoenix, Arizona working as an editor, researcher and interviewer.[1]
He married fellow deaf actress Deanne Bray. On 8 September 2005 she gave birth to daughter Kyra Monique Kotsur.
Career
Theatre roles: Troy has been involved with many Deaf West shows, including the 2003 Broadway revival of Big River as Pap/The Duke. He has performed principal roles in Orphans, Medea, Equus and Sleuth with Bernard Bragg and Romeo and Juliet, Verona Circus and Mice and Men. He traveled coast to coast in the USA with the National Theater for the Deaf, as well as in Northern Ireland and South Africa.[2]
Also, Troy was a guest artist performing at California Arts Institution in Valiance as Hamlet and the Ghost in Shakespeare's Hamlet Project, translated from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night English to concepts in American Sign Language at Yale University in 1999. In productions at the Herberger Theater in Phoenix he was Johnny Merrick in The Elephant Man and the defense attorney in The Night of January 16.[3]
He recently received two awards from Los Angeles Weekly and the 8th annual Artistic Director Achievement Award, Valley Theater League of California for the leading actor in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. He was nominated for his leading role in A Streetcar Named Desire by the Los Angeles Drama Circle Critics award, as well. He has been nominated by Los Angeles Ovation for Featured Actor in a Musical in Oliver! performed at the Deaf West Theater. While at Gallaudet University, he was awarded Best Actor for his role as Sepp Schmitz in The Firebugs and as Kurt Paxton in In a Room Somewhere.[4]
Television roles: Troy was in Whoopi Goldberg's TV show Strong Medicine on cable channel Lifetime Television. He guest starred in 6 episodes of his wife's show Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye. He also was on the special deaf themed episode (13 December 2006) of CSI: NY. Troy also guest starred on the television series Doc as a deaf baseball player. He also played the character of a deaf child's father in Scrubs.
Other
Troy has directed more than 10 theatrical productions, including LA Times' Best Bet Weekend Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp at Deaf West Theatre.[5]
Current activities
Troy is a freelance instructor doing theatrical workshops at many different schools, from elementary to college. He teaches many deaf/HH students at Sedona Southwest Arts in Action, Inc. He continues to train and strives to improve his own acting, too, at theater schools, including Deaf West Theatre's Summer Drama School and Gary Austin's Improvisation Workshop.
Troy knows in his heart that he will always enjoy working in the world of theaters[6]!