HOWIE SEAGO

By: Jacqueline Holland

Early Life

• He was born in Tacoma, Washington

• He was born deaf

• One of 5 kids– Older Brother-Hard of Hearing– Older Sister- Normal Hearing– Him- Deaf– Younger Sister- Normal Hearing– Younger Brother- Deaf (Billy Seago)

Family

• 5 children total

• Mom normal hearing

• Dad found out at age 21 that he was hard-of-hearing– Wanted to join air force and had hearing

tested to become a pilot and found out.

Growing Up

• He grew up oral, – No sign language– Mad now, wished he had learned ASL when

he was younger

• Him and his deaf brother, Billy, made up homemade signs and talked to each other

• His family would always talk and he didn’t know what was going on

High School

• He had 5 deaf kids at his high school

• Started learning signs, used Total Communication– It was clumsy though, his teacher was just

learning it then too

College

• He went to CHUN, California State University North Ridge

• He got a bachelor’s degree in Psychology– He wanted to be a councelor and work with

deaf children• Helping them and their families accept deafness

and be happy.

– But then acting came along

Acting

• His mom originally told him he could mime and someone would voice for him

• Then his roommate, Ted, suggested that he be in a play

• He started memorizing lines and Ted helped him

Acting Continued

• He joined the National Theatre of The Deaf

• His first play that he was ever in was “Ajax”

• Then he was in a few German productions like “The Forest” and “Beyond Silence”

TV Appearances• He was in:

– Hunter, police drama series– Star Trek: The Next

Generation, tv show– The Equalizer, movie– Rainbow’s End, children’s

show he helped create

• Started Happy Handfuls– Toured schools– Gave shows to deaf kids

• He manages the Shared Reading Video Outreach Project– Uses videoconferencing technology – Encourages deaf and hard of hearing children

to become interested in reading and to train their parents and teachers how to read stories in ASL.

Accomplishments

• He has produced different plays.

• He has been honored a lot and was a recipient for the Helen Hayes Award,

• He is a central figure of the American Deaf Community

Recently

• He has acted, directed, and taught for more than 24 years

• Now he lives in Washington

• He’s still acting and frustrated– He says Hollywood’s changing,

But isn’t ready and he can’t

Wait

• He married Lauri Seago