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Troy Kotsur makes Oscars history as first deaf actor winner

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In one of the more predictable wins at the Oscars Sunday night, deaf actor Troy Kotsur made history, taking home a trophy for best supporting actor.

Kotsur broke out in “CODA” as Frank Rossi, a deaf fisherman who relies on his teenage daughter, Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only hearing member of her family. Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant co-star in the Apple TV+ movie as Ruby’s mother and brother, respectively.

Troy Kotsur accepts the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for “CODA” onstage during the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022.

The 53-year-old actor has been the darling of the awards season this year, winning the same category at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the British Academy Film Awards and the Critics’ Choice Movies Awards.

Sunday’s win makes him the first deaf man to score a trophy at the Oscars.

His “CODA” co-star, Matlin, was the first deaf performer to win an Oscar when she won best actress for “Children of a Lesser God” in 1987.

“This is amazing to be here on this journey. I cannot believe I’m here,” Kotsur said during his acceptance speech through an interpreter, before joking that Matlin banned him from teaching President Biden and First Lady Jill “dirty sign language” during a visit to the White House.

Troy Kotsur, left, and Marlee Matlin in a scene from “CODA.”

Kotsur specifically thanked his dad, the “best signer” in his family, who was no longer able to sign after being paralyzed in a car accident.

“This is our moment,” he said to the “the deaf community, the CODA community, the disabled community.”

“To my mom, my dad, my brother Mark, they’re not here, but look at me now. I did it.”

Kotsur beat out Ciaran Hinds in “Belfast,” Jesse Plemons in “The Power of the Dog,” J.K. Simmons in “Being the Ricardos” and Kodi Smit-McPhee in “The Power of the Dog.”

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