Photo: Lyn Fairly Media / CC BY 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Troy Kotsur is one of those performers who makes you rethink everything you assumed about what acting requires — and he does it without uttering a single word. Born deaf in Mesa, Arizona, he spent decades building his craft through the National Theatre of the Deaf and regional stage work before most of Hollywood even knew his name. Then CODA came along in 2022 and the whole world caught up at once. His performance as Frank Rossi — gruff, funny, heartbreaking — earned him both the Academy Award and the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor, making him only the second deaf performer to win an Oscar for acting. What gets me is how physical and alive his screen presence is; American Sign Language becomes pure expressiveness in his hands. He's not a feel-good story, he's just a flat-out great actor who happened to wait a long time for the right role.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Troy Kotsur
- Name (Japanese)
- トロイ・コッツァー
- Reading
- とろい・こっつぁー
- Born
- July 24, 1968 (age 57)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Leo / Monkey
- Origin
- Mesa, Arizona, United States
- Occupation
- actor / film director
2. Background
- High school
- Westwood High School
- University
- Gallaudet University
Awards & achievements
- 2022 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
- 2022 BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Troy Kotsur born?
Born July 24, 1968 (age 57).
Where is Troy Kotsur from?
Troy Kotsur is from Mesa, Arizona, United States.
What does Troy Kotsur do?
Troy Kotsur works as actor, film director.
Actor — see all → · Film director — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.