Deanne Bray from NBC’s Heroes

The November/December 2009 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine (which I design and produce bimonthly for the Hearing Loss Association of America) features actress Deanne Bray, whose is guest starring as Emma on the NBC series, Heroes. She appeared on the September 28, October 5, and October 12 episodes.

From Heroes Wiki: “Emma has the ability to see sound waves as beautiful lights. Her power can also shoot out the sound waves as a concussive blast if heavily pressured enough. She demonstrates this by playing her cello so furiously that a blast of ‘sound’ leaves a scar on the wall.”

Deanne has a severe hearing loss and wears a hearing aid in her left ear. She was previously the star of the PAX-TV series, Sue Thomas, F.B. Eye. Based on a true story, the series followed the adventures of Sue Thomas, a deaf woman working for the FBI in Washington, D.C. Although the series ended in 2005, it was one of two highest rated shows on the channel.

Read Barbara Kelley’s feature, Deanne Bray—A Hearing Loss Hero, by clicking this link: DeanneBrayFeature. Be sure to click on the link once and then again when it appears a second time. The pdf should download to your desktop and open immediately.

Deanne is married to Troy Kotsur, an actor who is deaf. Kotsur was on the Lifetime series, Strong Medicine, and guest starred in Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye. He was also on the special deaf themed episode (December 13, 2008) of CSI: NY and an episode of Scrubs. Kotsur is also an award-winning director. Deanne and Troy have a four-year-old daughter, Kyra Monique.

I am fortunate to be able to photograph the majority of the covers for Hearing Loss Magazine. I would love to have flown to Hollywood to shoot this latest cover and feature, but alas, there wasn’t a budget for it. The cover photo was provided by Los Angeles-based Felicity Murphy.