Shoshannah Stern is a newly famous Deaf actress. She was born into a fourth generation Deaf family in Walnut Creek, California and has been exposed to American Sign Language since birth (Stern, 2008). She attended school at the California School for the Deaf, Fremont. With her mother as a role model, Shoshannah quickly became interested in acting and was featured in many of CSDF’s theatrical productions.

            While a student at Gallaudet University, Shoshannah was involved with the theatre department and was recognized with many awards (Stern, 2008). She has since been featured in Threat Matrix, Weeds, and Jericho. The character she was cast to play in Jericho was not initially written to be a deaf woman. Today, she is the only deaf actor who held roles in two prime-time television shows at the same time.

            Shoshannah was recently featured in a music video supporting Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” campaign (http://www.youtube.com/‌watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY). She has truly been an inspiration to the Deaf community as a whole, especially its youth.

References

Stern, S. (2008, July 1). About. Message posted to http://www.shoshannah-stern.com/‌blog/‌?page_id=2

Yes we can - Barack Obama music video [Music video]. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/‌watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY

History of Deaf Culture