Bernard Bragg
Bernard Bragg is a deaf actor, producer, director, playwright, artist, and author who is notable for being a cofounder of the National Theatre of the Deaf and for his contributions to Deaf performing culture. According to The New York Times, Bernard Bragg has been regarded by many as the leading professional deaf actor in the country.
Bernard Bragg was born on September 27, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up learning sign language, which was taught to him by his two deaf parents. From a young age, Bernard demonstrated an interest in theatre, which developed as a result of the influence of his father, who was an amateur actor and play manager. Throughout his childhood and adolescence, Bragg attended the New York School for the Deaf, informally known as Fanwood, and entered Gallaudet College upon graduating in 1947. Whilst attending Gallaudet, Bragg studied theater under a deaf professor named Frederick Hughes, and starred as the lead role in a number of school plays, for which he won numerous honors. Ultimately, Braggs theatrical activity culminated in his directing of a play, an adaptation of John Galsworthys Escape. In addition to theater, Bernard Bragg wrote poetry throughout his time in college, earning the Teegarden Award for Creative Poetry in his senior year.
Source: Wikipedia