Troy was born on July 24, 1968, in Mesa, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. He was born to parents JoDee True and Leonard Stephen "Len" Kotsur. 

His parents discovered that the future actor was deaf when he was around nine months old. However, instead of being disheartened by the news, the parents decided to learn American Sign Language to communicate with their son.

The actor has stated that his parents always encouraged him to play sports and through that, he learned to connect with other hearing kids in their neighborhood. His first foray into acting was a pantomime skit he did during his senior year at Westwood high school that was received positively and motivated him to pursue acting.

Troy Kotsur Wife

Troy Kotsur and wife Deanne Bray recently celebrated their 21 wedding anniversary. Troy and Deanne are both deaf actors and advocates.

Deanne is a fellow actress. Like Troy, she was also born deaf and communicates through American Sign Language and English.

She has been active in the film industry since 1995 and is best known for her recurring role as Emma Coolidge in the 2000s hit series "Heroes." She is also well known for her role as Sue Thomas, the titular character of "Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye."

Her role as Sue Thomas was an especially successful one as the show she led lasted for over 56 episodes from 2002 to 2005 and received four wins and two nominations overall. As for the actress herself, she won a Grace Award for her role in 2006.

Aside from acting, Deanne is also an advocate for deaf people, especially when it comes to education. As both of her parents were not fluent in ASL, although her dad could do some basic ones while her mother refused to learn, Deanne has been a strong advocate for improving childhood education for deaf children.

To that end, she has long been a spokesperson for LEAD-K, Language Equality, and Acquisition for Deaf Kids. 

As for her relationship with her lover, Troy, the two met in 1993 when Deanne was visiting a friend at the National Theatre of the Deaf in Connecticut. Incidentally, Troy was a member of the theater for over two years.

The meeting didn't lead to anything but friendship though. It would take another year for something more to develop. 

The two reconnected when Troy moved to Los Angeles, Deanne's hometown, in 1994. Troy and Deanne even worked together on a couple of stage productions, as per PEOPLE.

Deanne initially didn't want to date Troy as she didn't believe in getting into a relationship with a co-worker. Still, they built a strong friendship that gradually became a relationship after three years in 1997. Four years after that, the two got married in 2001.

Troy Kostur daughter Kyra Monique Kostur inspired his performance in Coda. Troy stated that Kyra's passion for guitar helped him better act his role.

Troy plays a deaf father in Coda while his co-star, Emilia Jones, plays his character's daughter. Much like in real life, Emilia's character isn't deaf like Troy's character and has a passion for singing.

The theme of the movie is Emilia's character's struggle between pursuing her dream and not wanting to leave her parents. Troy has stated that he used his own relationship with his daughter as inspiration for his Oscar-winning performance.

In real life, Kyra was born on September 8, 2005, and is herself a CODA, Child of Deaf Adults. Based on both Troy and Deanne's Instagram, it is evident that both parents love their daughter very much.

Kyra, like her mother, is also bilingual in English and American Sign Language, and, as mentioned above, has a passion for music and plays the guitar. She also enjoys spending time with her father by training their mini Australian dog.

Unlike her parents, Kyra is not yet a popular figure. Judging by her social media presence, one can gather that she likes to remain out of the spotlight. She only has about 949 followers on her Instagram page and aside from her name, has no other indication that she is related to her parents.

She also only has five posts and the vast majority of them are either of her friends or of places that she has visited with them. Still, her love for her parents is evident from their social media posts, and given that she inspired her father to an Oscar, it's pretty clear that the family is a happy one.