Deanne Bray

Deanne Bray is an American actress born on May 14, 1971, in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California. Born deaf, she is multilingual, with fluency in American Sign Language, British Sign Language, and English. She is also known professionally as Deanne Bray-Kotsur.

Bray spent the majority of her life in southern California, raised primarily by her father. For a portion of her childhood she lived in Seattle with her mother and attended Washington State School for the Deaf for eighth grade. Her parents prioritized language development from an early age, enrolling her in various programs and centers to build her skills in both spoken and written English and American Sign Language. Her father had a working knowledge of basic ASL, while her mother did not learn to sign. Bray went on to earn a bachelor's degree in biology from California State University, Northridge, and later received a master's degree in sign language education in 2013.

Her path into the entertainment industry began when she was discovered performing with a deaf dancing group called Prism West at a Deaf festival held at California State University, Northridge. She became best known for her lead role as Sue Thomas in the television series Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, and also held a recurring role as Emma Coolidge on the series Heroes. Additionally, she co-hosted the DVD Your Pregnancy: What To Expect alongside Missy Keast, a resource created for pregnant deaf and hard-of-hearing women. Her film credits include the 2016 production Wild Prairie Rose.

On Broadway, Bray appeared in 2003 in Big River. Beyond her performance work, she taught American Sign Language at Oak Park High School in Oak Park, California, from 2013 to 2021. She has also served as an advocate for early childhood education for deaf children and as a spokesperson for Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids, known as LEAD-K.

In her personal life, Bray is married to actor Troy Kotsur, the first deaf male actor to win an Academy Award. The couple's daughter, Kyra Monique Kotsur, was born on September 8, 2005.