Billy Seago: dramatically different.(Biography)

Billy Seago is a talented actor. He has performed at theaters all over the world. He also happens to be deaf. Although Billy can't hear, he can speak. He is an expert lip reader. He even knows two languages--English and American Sign Language (ASL).

Billy started performing when he was about 4 years old. He and his brothers and sisters acted out Bible stories during services at their father's church and at home.

Billy remembers turning a neighbor's garage into a theater. He and his sisters, along with his older brother, Howie (who is also deaf and also an actor), put on crazy--clothes and tried to make each other laugh. They loved imitating famous clowns such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.

Billy went to a school where the deaf students were taught to lip-read and speak. Sign language was not allowed. Sometimes he was made to sit on his hands. But he soon mastered these skills and was ready for a new challenge.

In sixth grade, Billy asked his parents to put him into a class with hearing kids. "I had to work extra hard to understand, to fit in, to prove myself," he says. Billy was confident that he would succeed, and he did.