Best Deaf Actors
Best Deaf Actors. Great performance and beautiful sign language.
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Emilio Insolera, an accomplished deaf actor, is widely acknowledged for his diverse career, advocacy work, and innovative contributions to sign language within the film industry. He is acclaimed for his roles in writing, producing, directing, and starring in Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes (2017). Additionally, Emilio made headlines when he joined the cast of Universal Pictures' spy film The 355 (2022) by Simon Kinberg. In this project, he starred alongside Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Édgar Ramírez and Sebastian Stan. Emilio has also lent his voice to Disney's Limbo (2022) and has worked as ASL consultant for Robert Salerno's thriller film Here After.
Insolera was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Italian deaf parents, Alfio Insolera and Maria Cristina Drovetta. He also has an older brother named Humberto. Growing up in a large deaf family and living in various countries, including Argentina, Italy, and the United States, he is fluent in Italian, Spanish, English, American Sign Language (ASL), Italian Sign Language (LIS), and Argentine Sign Language (LSA). At a later stage in his life, he worked and lived in Japan, which allowed him to acquire basic Japanese language skills and proficiency in Japanese Sign Language (JSL).
Emilio is in a relationship with Norwegian fashion model Carola Insolera, and together, they have two deaf daughters, Ana Insolera and Liv Insolera.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Anthony Natale was born in St Catharines, Ontario, along with his older brother and younger sister, he represent the generation of a large Italian families in White Plains, New York He attended a boarding school for the deaf in Ernest C Drury, He was transferred to a mainstreaming gifted program with hearing students. Upon on his graduation as a valedictorian He Attended California State University Northridge with a Bachelor of Arts in film production and minor in theater arts. During his high school era, Anthony's first memory of wanting to be an actor was in a residential high school of the deaf, when Grease first came out. Being hard of hearing and at somewhat of a disadvantage before films were available in closed captions. Anthony came across a pop up book about the movie, and took it with him to watch. Right away, he knew he wanted "to be an actor like John Travolta". Natale says, he was the class clown in school and would have become an actor whether he was deaf or hearing. Natale is known to moviegoers as the guy in the elevator during the pivotal scene from Jerry Maguire, signing "You complete me" to his partner. He starred as the older son in Mr Holland's Opus and has been also seen in Children of a a lesser GodAnthony is also the star of "How to talk to a person who can't hear" , the first video made to teach sign language to the general public which has garnered awards from the U.S. International film&Video Festival and a young Artist Award.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
John Maucere is an internationally recognized performer who played a critical part in breaking down social stereotypes by being the very first Deaf actor to take part in ABC's Talent Development Program with Tom Hanks and Arsenio Hall. John created and portrayed the SuperDeafy character, a Deaf superhero in a movie, No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie starring Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, which was recently released to rave reviews at the Heartland Film Festival. He appeared on several television shows, including LAW AND ORDER, SOUTHLAND and ABC Family's highest-rated show, SWITCHED AT BIRTH. John toured with the National Theatre of the Deaf, and performed on stage at Deaf West Theatre. He has done sketches at the Hollywood's House of Blues with Eva Longoria and Cheri Oteri and has co-mastered ceremonies with Marlee Matlin and Ken Paves. John performed the National Anthem and America the Beautiful with Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson as a spokesperson for the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and as a featured fan favorite for PepsiCo at the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans. John was the headliner for the sold-out crowd of 4,000 on Royal Caribbean's Deaf Freedom Cruise with Passages Deaf Travel. John has appeared internationally at the Deaflympics, at the New Zealand Comedy Festival, Canada, India and throughout Norway, France and Italy under the famed Teater Manu. John attended Gallaudet University, where he was one of the rally leaders who led Gallaudet through the historic 1988 Deaf President Now (DPN) movement. His contribution was recognized in the book "The Week the World Heard Gallaudet," which sparked his lifelong passion to inspire people to believe that Deaf people can do anything.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Bernard Bragg was born on 27 September 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Simone (2009), ...and Your Name Is Jonah (1979) and NBC Experiment in Television (1967). He died on 29 October 2018 in Los Angeles, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Benjamin Bahan is known for Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes (2017) and Through Deaf Eyes (2007).- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Hiroshi Vava is known for Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes (2017).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Sean Berdy was born on June 3rd, 1993 in Boca Raton, Florida, to parents Terrie and Scott Berdy. At a young age Sean began putting on impromptu comedic shows alongside his brother, Tyler, to the delight of family and friends. Seeing the joy he brought to others while performing, he became passionate about entertaining. Young Berdy also became fascinated with magic and won the top award for young magicians at the World Children's Magicians Festival held in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Sean received his first big break in acting on The Sandlot 2. Sean played the role of lovable and mischievous Sammy "Fingers" Samuelson.
In 2011, Sean was cast as a series regular in the ABC Family's series "Switched at Birth." Playing opposite Marlee Matlin as his mother, Sean portrayed the role of Emmett Bledsoe. Among other skills, Emmett rides a motorcycle, plays the drums in a rock band and is a photographer.
As a result, in 2011 he was nominated for TV Breakout Star by the Teen Choice Awards.
For Twentieth Century-Fox's animated movie "Ice Age: Continental Drift," Sean has provided an industry first on-camera ASL performance that displays in a picture-in-picture window used in the DVD release.
Over the years, Sean has created several music videos performed in ASL and delivered a number of motivational keynote speeches throughout the country.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
Troy Kotsur has been acting and directing for over 20 years. Deaf since birth, he was raised in Mesa, AZ. In his career he has had critically acclaimed performances in major films, a lead role in the Broadway run of a Tony Award-winning play, and numerous memorable roles on Television.
Troy has garnered rave reviews for his leading role in the 2021 feature CODA, which was awarded Best Ensemble Cast at Sundance. He is credited with being one of the prime reasons for the feature's festival success, which lead to its $25 million sale to Apple. Previous to this, Troy had a supporting role in The Number 23 starring Jim Carrey, and in subsequent years became known for stand-out performances in indie features.
In television, Troy made headlines in 2019 for his acting role in The Mandalorian on Disney+ because along with acting, he choreographed an adapted form of sign language for the series. Other notable television roles include guest star appearances on Criminal Minds, Scrubs, CSI: NY, and a fan favorite recurring character on PAX's Sue Thomas: FB-Eye.
Much of Troy's success has stemmed from his highly respected career on stage. This includes a role in the Tony Award-winning run of Big River on Broadway, performing at the Mark Taper Forum, and the 2015 LA Drama Critics Circle Award nominee Spring Awakening.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Daniel was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. He attended mainstream schools in Duluth before transferring to the Minnesota State School for the Deaf in 8th grade. Daniel graduated from MSAD in 2008 and attended RIT in Rochester, NY and Gallaudet in Washington, DC. Daniel moved to Los Angeles, CA in 2012 to join the Deaf West Theatre production of Cyrano. Shortly after Cyrano, Daniel landed a job as guest actor at Oakland University in Michigan working with Terp Theater. Daniel played, "Stinger," the lead role in their production of Police: Deaf: Near: Far. Daniel joined the cast of Switched at Birth (ABC Family Channel) in 2013 and continued in his co-starring role as the character of "Matthew" through the finale of the series aired in 2017. In the Fall of 2013, Daniel teamed up once again with Deaf West, playing the lead role of "Charlie" in their production of Flowers for Algernon. Daniel played the co-lead role of "Moritz" in the critically acclaimed 2014 Deaf West production of Spring Awakening, which opened in the Rosenthal Theatre and moved to the Wallis Annenberg Theatre (Beverly Hills) in 2015. In the Fall of 2015, Daniel made his Broadway debut as "Mortiz" at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The show opened to rave reviews and ran until January 2016. In 2017, Daniel joined the Norwegian company of Teater Manu for the lead role of "Jonas" in Jonas and the Body, traveling for performances in Norway and France over a seven-month period. In 2019, Daniel was involved in movies, television and theatre, filming Coda, Silent Notes and You (Netflix), as well as performing in Canada and France in the production of Black Drum. His ongoing work includes co-leading acting workshops for Deaf students in area schools, serving as an acting teacher and coach for Deaf film camps as well as national speaking engagements for colleges and universities. Daniel has received numerous awards and recognition, including the 2016 Theatre Award (Outstanding 2016 Broadway Debut Performance), Broadway.com's "Top 10 Show-Stopping Performances of the 2015-2016 Broadway Season," Huffington Post's "Top 10 Best Theatrical Performances of 2015," Theatremania.com's "12 Best Broadway Debuts of 2015" and a 2014 Robby Award nomination for Excellence in Theatre. Daniel was also the 2014 Deaf Awareness Month Honoree for the City of Los Angeles, honoring his outstanding contributions to the arts and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities of Los Angeles. Daniel is passionate about acting and supporting the Deaf community and spends his free time connecting with and meeting new friends all over the world through his ASL videos on YouTube, Deaf Gamers Network and his Facebook & Twitter accounts. "ASL makes our world a more beautiful place." ~ Daniel N. Durant- Howie Seago is one of the most engaged deaf actors in the USA. For more than 20 years he's been working as an actor, director and producer all over the world. Deaf from birth, Seago started to develop his mimic abilities as a child with the help of his mother, before he stepped on stage before the public for the first time in college. His break-through role was in Peter Sellar's production "Ajax"; David Byrne, the singer of the 'Talking Heads', saw him in this performance and was so impressed that he cast him for the role of the king in his German production of "The Forest" (1989). For his performances as an actor Seago has been honored several times, including the prestigious Helen Hayes award. Apart from numerous further other plays he was also on television, e.g. in Hunter (1984), as well as in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and The Equalizer (1985). Beyond that, He helped create the Emmy winning TV show "Rainbow's End" for deaf children. He also produced some plays and by his commitment as author and teacher he became a central figure of the American Deaf Community.