Deanne Bray – Deaf Actress from Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye

Deanne Bray
Deanne Bray

Deanne Bray is a well known deaf actress who was probably the first deaf person Hollywood created an entire television show around.

She is best known for playing Sue Thomas on Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye that aired on the PAX channel for 3 seasons. She competed with both hearing and deaf actresses for the lead role, and was cast when the real Sue Thomas saw her audition.

Before Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, Deanne Bray was a high school teacher and taught science and math to deaf and hard of hearing high school students. She had also been a part of Deaf West Theater and had guest appearances on television shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Diagnosis Murder.

More recently, Deanne played Emma on one of my favorite television shows: Heroes.

Bray was born in 1971 and has been deaf since birth. She is a proud member of the Deaf community and credits her parents with having an open mind about her deafness and getting her involved in the Deaf world. For this reason, she was able to find her identity early in life. This is, sadly, quite rare for deaf children born to hearing families. She is also bilingual with American Sign Language and both spoken and written English.

Bray is married to Troy Kotsur, a well known deaf actor. They have been married since 2001 and have worked on several productions together since 1995.

Since her daughter, Kyra, was born, Bray has decided to be a full time mom and is also pursuing her Master’s Degree in Education.

You can find more information on Bray’s official website: https://www.deannebray.com.

Below is a promo video for Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye airing on GMC starting summer 2010.

 

If you’re interested in checking out this series, you can pick it up today!

Please note that when you choose to purchase through the external links on this website (in many but not all cases) we will receive a referral commission. However, this commission does not influence the information we provide in this site. We always give honest opinions and reviews to share our findings, beliefs, and/or experiences. You can view our full disclosure on this page.

author avatar
Michelle Jay
Michelle Jay is the founder of StartASL.com. She earned a Bachelor‘s Degree in Deaf Studies, with an emphasis in teaching, from one of the nation’s premier programs at California State University, Northridge. Michelle is a published author and has contributed thought-provoking articles to academic publishers such as Greenhaven Press. Her unique articles have done much to support Deaf Culture, and have been printed in resource publications such as American Chronicle and Perspectives on Diseases & Disorders: Deafness & Hearing Impairments.
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Print

5 Responses

  1. I too have just started watching Sue Thomas FBEye. The show is very well written, and Deanne is amazing! All the actors/actresses are really good too. I watch this almost every day and have ordered the DVD set of the entire series. I pray Deanne and her family are doing well and wish I could send her an encouraging message too.

  2. I know that this is probably a very old post – please forgive me. I am trying to leave a simple fan comment for Ms. Deanne Bray – aka: character Sue Thomas FB Eye. I have always watched the show and became a fan bigger than life. I am just discovering the reruns on Roku TV and remembering just how much I absolutely loved this wonderful young lady. I am 65 and live in Michigan. Her website does not allow me to send her a message. I do not want to get on any spam lists – please.

  3. The first episode I saw of Dianne Bray and her Golden Retriever: I feel in love with the series, and Dianne Bray. I had always wanted to learn ASL after taking two deft scuba divers – snorkelers, diving with me; with Manatees in Crystal River, Florida! I was totally fascinated with how easily they communicated with each other under water! It seemed so natural, and a real special gift in a silent underwater world.

  4. I think it would be really neat to learn ASL from Deanne Bray and hope to one day be able to have the opportunity to do so. I really love her in Sue Thompson F B Eye and now when I am done watching that I will definitely be watching Heroes.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

American Sign Language Signing Group

Take ASL 1 for Free!

Start learning American Sign Language with our free online ASL 1 course - sign up with your email today! No credit card required.

Latest Posts

learn sign language - Start ASL Free ASL 1 Course

Take ASL 1 For Free!

Sign up today! Start learning American Sign Language with our Free Online ASL 1 Course. No credit card required.