Deaf actor Troy Kotsur makes himself heard with Oscar win

Troy Kotsur made history Sunday as the first deaf male actor to earn an Oscar, winning over voters with a funny, assured and authentic turn as the father of a loving family in the heartfelt indie drama ‘CODA.’

Deaf since birth, the 53-year-old has been an established stage actor for decades, with a lead role on Broadway on his resume, and was previously best known on the big screen for a supporting role in Jim Carrey thriller ‘The Number 23.’

But his performance in ‘CODA’ alongside Marlee Matlin -- the only other deaf actor to win an Oscar, in 1987 for ‘Children of a Lesser God’ -- has catapulted him to a historic Academy Award win. 

“This is dedicated to the deaf community, the CODA community and the disabled community. This is our moment,” Kotsur said as he accepted his award. Kotsur beat rival nominees Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee (both ‘The Power of the Dog’), Ciaran Hinds (‘Belfast’) and J.K. Simmons (‘Being the Ricardos’).

In ‘CODA’ -- an acronym for child of deaf adult -- Kotsur plays Frank Rossi, whose family fishing business is struggling under the weight of bureaucracy and the changing climate.

The family faces the added challenge of being deaf in a tough blue-collar world, where authorities are unwilling to make allowances for their lack of hearing.

They rely on hearing daughter Ruby (played by breakout young actress Emilia Jones), who struggles to balance the demands of translating for the family with her own ambitions to sing.

‘CODA’ also triumphed on Sunday for best picture and best adapted screenplay.  The relative newcomer to the streaming wars released the film worldwide last summer, and Kotsur -- a regular performer at Los Angeles’ Deaf West Theater known to television viewers for turns in ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘CSI: NY’ -- has collected multiple accolades since.

His Oscar charge began in earnest last month when he won best supporting actor honors from the Screen Actors Guild. 

‘Now I feel like I’m finally part of the family,’ he told the Hollywood-based actors union.  

‘I know what you all know -- what it’s like to be a starving actor. Back then