Oscars: Troy Kotsur wins best supporting actor for Coda

LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win an Oscar, taking the Academy Award on Sunday (March 27) for best supporting actor for his role as a fisherman and father in family drama Coda.

Kotsur, 53, has worked for over three decades in theatre, television and film for both deaf and hearing audiences.

In Coda, an acronym for "child of deaf adults", 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.

The only other deaf person to win an Oscar was Kotsur's Coda co-star Marlee Matlin. She won best actress for her role in romantic drama Children Of A Lesser God (1986).

Kotsur was born deaf and grew up in Arizona as the only non-hearing member of his family, attending the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf and a suburban high school in Mesa.

Most of Kotsur's credits come from the theatre, with roles in Of Mice And Men, A Streetcar Named Desire and a Broadway production of Big River: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn.

He also appeared in an episode of Star Wars television series The Mandalorian and created a fictional sign language for the Tusken Raiders on the planet Tatooine.

Kotsur earned the supporting actor honour over Ciaran Hinds for Belfast, J.K. Simmons for Being The Ricardos and Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons, both nominated for their roles in The Power Of The Dog.