Troy Kotsur
Encyclopedia
Personal life
Kotsur was born and raised in the city of Mesa, ArizonaMesa, Arizona
According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...
. He has been deaf since his birth. He went to Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a federally-chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, located in the District of Columbia, U.S...
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.
He married fellow deaf actress Deanne Bray
Deanne Bray
Deanne Bray is a Deaf American actress who is best known for her role as Sue Thomas in the show Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye. She is also known for her recurring role as Emma Coolidge on Heroes.-Personal life:...
. On 8 September 2005 she gave birth to daughter Kyra Monique Kotsur, who weighed 7 lb 11 oz.
Career
Theatre roles: Troy has been involved with many Deaf WestDeaf West Theatre
Deaf West Theatre Company is a North Hollywood, California-based cultural institution serving as a model for deaf theatre worldwide. Founded in 1991, by Ed Waterstreet, it is noted for being the first professional resident Sign Language Theatre in the western half of the United States...
shows, including the 2003 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
revival of Big River
Big River (musical)
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a musical with a book by William Hauptman and music and lyrics by Roger Miller.Based on Mark Twain's classic 1884 novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it features music in the bluegrass and country styles in keeping with the setting of the novel...
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.
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
The Elephant Man (play)
The Elephant Man is a 1977 play by Bernard Pomerance. The production's Broadway debut in 1979 was produced by Richmond Crinkley and Nelle Nugent, and directed by Jack Hofsiss...
and the defense attorney in The Night of January 16.
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
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
' A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
. 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!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
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.
Television roles: Troy was in Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
's TV show Strong Medicine
Strong Medicine
Strong Medicine is a medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict. The television series aired on the Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It is distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The series was created and produced in part by comedienne and...
on cable channel Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
. He guest starred in 6 episodes of his wife's show Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye
Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye
Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye is a Canadian-American television series that premiered in the United States in 2002 and Canada in 2003. The show ended in May 2005 due to PAX's decision to halt the production of original programming. It was one of the two highest rated shows on PAX. In September 2009, Gospel...
. He also was on the special deaf themed episode (13 December 2006) of CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
. Troy also guest starred on the television series Doc
Doc (TV series)
Doc is a medical drama/family drama with strong Christian undertones starring Billy Ray Cyrus as Dr. Clint "Doc" Cassidy, a Montana doctor who takes a job in a New York City medical clinic. It ran from March 11, 2001 to November 28, 2004 on PAX...
as a deaf baseball player.
Other
Troy has directed more than 10 theatrical productions, including LA Times' Best Bet Weekend AladdinAladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
and the Wonderful Lamp at Deaf West Theatre
Deaf West Theatre
Deaf West Theatre Company is a North Hollywood, California-based cultural institution serving as a model for deaf theatre worldwide. Founded in 1991, by Ed Waterstreet, it is noted for being the first professional resident Sign Language Theatre in the western half of the United States...
.
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 TheatreDeaf West Theatre
Deaf West Theatre Company is a North Hollywood, California-based cultural institution serving as a model for deaf theatre worldwide. Founded in 1991, by Ed Waterstreet, it is noted for being the first professional resident Sign Language Theatre in the western half of the United States...
'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!