Black and white photo of a white man on the left and a white woman on the right. They are facing each other.

NTD offers its sincere congratulations to Troy Kotsur for his Best Supporting Oscar win as Frank Rossi in CODA. Kotsur performed with NTD from 1991-93, appearing in Treasure Island and Ophelia. In his acceptance speech, Kotsur thanked “all of the Deaf theaters that have given me the opportunity to grow as an actor.” We are proud to have been part of his career. As NTD Board Chair Tyrone Giordano commented: “Deaf theatres have historically been incubators of Deaf performing artists. There are so few opportunities for Deaf artists to work consistently in television and film in order to sustain a career—so for Troy to have come all this way over so many years and strike gold with CODA is a testament to his own persistence and grit to carve out that career. With Troy’s win, our hope is that producers and directors’ eyes will turn to other Deaf individuals artists.”

~Pictured are Troy Kotsur as Hamlet and Camille Jeter as Ophelia in NTD’s 1992-93 production of “Ophelia.”
With thanks to NTD historian Dr. Stephen C. Baldwin

National Theatre of the Deaf
Elstad Annex
800 Florida Ave. NE
Washington, DC 20002

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