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Deanne Bray

Deanne Bray is the star of Sue Thomas: F.B.EYE, and portrays an earnest, young deaf woman who falls into an exciting career as an undercover surveillant for the FBI. Bray herself is severely deaf and has been acting for more than 10 years, appearing in theatrical productions, film and guest-star roles on numerous television series. Contrary to the advice of some professionals, 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.

Bray has appeared in the NBC Movie-of-the-Week Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Lightning directed by Bruce Paltrow and co-starring Randy Quaid, Independent films What Do The Women Want? directed by Guy Shalem, Last Mountain with Soon-Tek Oh and L.A. Sheriff Homicide for CBS. Her numerous television credits include guest starring roles on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Ellen, Diagnosis Murder, The Pretender and Strong Medicine. Additionally, Bray was a host on a nationally syndicated show for the deaf community, Caption This.

Bray holds an extensive list of stage credits from the acclaimed Deaf West Theatre in California including Road To The Revolution, for which she garnered a Best Supporting Actress Award for the 2001 A.D.A. Awards; Oliver which earned her a Best Translation nomination at the 2000 Los Angeles Ovation Awards; and The House of Bernarda Alba which won Best Ensemble at the 1999 LA Weekly Awards. She also has appeared in Deaf West's Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. At the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, she played Helen Keller in Helen & Frida and appeared in the Vincent Paderson production, Kazoo.

For the past three years, Bray has taught science and math to deaf and hard of hearing students in East Los Angeles, established a literacy program -- The Little Bookworm Club-- for deaf and hard of hearing children and is about to complete her Masters in Education. She is involved in numerous organizations and serves as Second Vice Chairperson on the council board of the Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness (GLAD) and the Non-Traditional Casting Project.

Bray lives in North Hollywood, California with her husband Troy Kotsur, a deaf actor who recently appeared in the acclaimed Deaf West Theatre production of True West. They have both been cast in Deaf West's exciting journey to the Mark Taper Forum for their next musical production, Big River (November-December 2002), a role Bray will have to forgo for her work on Sue Thomas: F.B.EYE.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2003.

Deanne Bray Facts

OccupationActress
BirthdayMay 14, 1971 (52)
SignTaurus
BirthplaceCanoga Park, California, USA

Selected Filmography

Sue Thomas F.B.Eye Volumes 1-5
Flyer
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye Volume 3
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye Volume 1
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye Volume 2
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye Volume 4
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye Volume 5
I See The Crowd Roar
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