Shoshannah Stern (born July 3, 1980) is an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

and writer.

Life and career

She was born in

Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland. With a total population of 70,127 per the 2020 census, Walnut Creek ser ...

, into an observant

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish and fourth-generation

Deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

family, the daughter of Ron Stern and Hedy Marilyn Stern (née Udkovich), and the sister of writer and artist Louise Stern and former Gallaudet Men's Basketball Coach and current political scientist Brendan Stern. Both of her grandmothers are

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

survivors. Her hometown is

Fremont, California Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San Fra ...

, where she attended the

California School for the Deaf, Fremont The California School for the Deaf is a school for deaf children in Fremont, California. The school educates deaf children from all over Northern California. Its campus in Fremont is adjacent to the campus of the California School for the Bli ...

. Stern's first language is

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

. She is also able to read lips and speak English without an interpreter. She attended

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...

, the only

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...

for the Deaf in the world. She married her husband, Ricky Mitchell, on June 3, 2012, in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

. Their daughter was born in February 2015. She currently resides with him in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. Stern got her first regular series role as Holly Brodeen, a member of an elite government anti-terrorist task force in

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''

Threat Matrix ''Threat Matrix'' is an American drama television series created by Daniel Voll that aired on ABC from September 18, 2003 to January 29, 2004 which lasted 16 episodes. The plot consisted of the events in a United States Homeland Security anti-t ...

''. The role was created for her by the show's producers after a director who had worked with her on ''

The Division ''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The ...

'' recommended her. She had a recurring role in

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's '' Weeds'' (as Megan Beals-Botwin) and was also on '' ER'', ''

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

'' and ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or re ...

''. She played

Bonnie Richmond This is a list of characters from the television series ''Jericho'', which premiered in 2006 on CBS in the United States. Main characters Jake Green * Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich * Appears in: ''Season 1'', ''Season 2'' * Status: Alive Johnsto ...

in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

drama ''

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

''. She had a recurring role in Season 3 of

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's ''

Lie to Me ''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series. It originally ran on the Fox network from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightma ...

''. Stern appeared with

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...

in the film ''

The Last Shot ''The Last Shot'' is a 2004 American action comedy film starring Matthew Broderick, Alec Baldwin, Toni Collette, Calista Flockhart, Ray Liotta, Tim Blake Nelson, James Rebhorn and Tony Shalhoub. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nathanson, ...

'' and starred in the film ''

Adventures of Power ''Adventures of Power'' is a 2008 American adventure comedy film written and directed by Ari Gold, starring Gold, Michael McKean, Jane Lynch, Shoshannah Stern, Chiu Chi Ling, and Adrian Grenier and featuring Steven Williams, Jimmy Jean-Louis, A ...

''. She also appeared in the popular music video " Yes We Can", written by

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

for the

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

campaign. Her 2020 role on ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'' is the first recurring Deaf doctor role on a prime time television network show. She also played the recurring character Eileen on the CW show ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

''. She is also set to write episodes of the upcoming '' Hawkeye'' spin-off series ''Echo'', set in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

starring

Alaqua Cox Alaqua Cox (born February 13, 1997) is a deaf Native American actress. She landed her breakthrough role as Maya Lopez / Echo within the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the Disney+ series '' Hawkeye'' (2021) and as the titular main protagonist in ...

. She also appears in the credits of season one, episode 5 Endure and Survive of HBO Max show The Last of Us, a dystopian series on HBO Max where cordyceps mushrooms mutate and take over society set in the present day.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Deaf West Theatre

*''Open Window'' .... Susan (directed by Eric Simonson) *'' Children of a Lesser God'' .... Sarah (directed by Joe Giamalva)

California School for the Deaf Theatre Program

*''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' .... Juliet (directed by Julianna Fjeld) *''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'' .... Dancer (directed by CJ Jones) *'' The Cat and the Canary'' .... Annabelle (directed by CJ Jones) *''

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specifica ...

'' .... Gymnasia (directed by CJ Jones) *''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

'' .... Anne (directed by Charles Katz)

References

External links

Shoshannah Stern official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Shoshannah 1980 births Actresses from California American deaf actresses American television actresses Jewish American actresses Living people People from Walnut Creek, California American stage actresses 21st-century American actresses American deaf people 21st-century American Jews Gallaudet University alumni