Troy Kotsur Becomes 1st Deaf Man to Win Oscar Award
Troy Kotsur made history by becoming the second deaf actor to win an Oscar Award.
Today the 94th Oscar awards were held in Los Angeles in the USA. As usual, many hearing people won awards for their films. But there is a big surprise this time and very good news. Troy Kotsur (53) made history by becoming the first Deaf male actor to win an Oscar Award. He won the Best Supporting Actor for his brilliant performance in CODA. In the movie, Kotsur plays Frank Rossi, the father of teenager Ruby who struggles to help her family's fishing business while pursuing her own aspirations in music. While accepting the Oscar, Troy spoke in his sign language and said, "This is amazing to be here on this journey. I cannot believe I'm here. This is dedicated to the deaf community, the CODA community, and the disabled community. This is our moment.” His signs were interpreted by an interpreter so that the audience could understand. After his speech, the entire audience stood up and clapped for him in Sign language.
Also, the entire live telecast of the award ceremony was broadcasted on YouTube and for the first time featured American Sign Language interpreters. The video will only have the interpreter on the screen. It will act as a second screen. His CODA co-star Marlee Matlin was the first-ever Deaf person to win an Oscar. She won Best Actress for her performance in Children of a Lesser God in 1986. Now Kotsur has become the 1st Deaf man to win the award. He has worked for over three decades in theatre, television, and film for both deaf and hearing audiences. Kotsur was born deaf and grew up in Arizona as the only Deaf member of his family, attending the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf. CODA is being streamed in India on Apple TV+.
During the Oscar ceremony, Chris Rock was on stage giving a speech. That time he compared Will Smith’s wife to Jada Pinkett Smith to GI Jane. Will Smith then walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock. The video went viral. Will Smith sat down and told him to not use his wife’s name from his dirty mouth.
