Shoshannah Stern
Encyclopedia
Life
She was born in Walnut Creek, CaliforniaWalnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...
into an observant Jewish and fourth-generation deaf family. One of her grandmothers is a Holocaust survivor. Her hometown is Fremont, California
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs...
, where she attended the California School for the Deaf, Fremont
California School for the Deaf, Fremont
The California School for the Deaf, Fremont is a school for deaf children in Fremont, California. The school educates deaf children from all over Northern California...
.
Stern's first language is American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
. She is also able to read lips and speak English without an interpreter. She attended Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a federally-chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, located in the District of Columbia, U.S...
, the only liberal arts college
Liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
for the deaf in the world.
Stern got her first regular series role as Holly Brodeen, a member of an elite government anti-terrorist task force in ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Threat Matrix
Threat Matrix
Threat Matrix is a 2003 American drama television series. It lasted 16 episodes. The plot consisted of the events in a United States Homeland Security anti-terrorism unit, led by Special agent John Kilmer....
. The role was created for her by the show's producers after a director who had worked with her on The Division
The Division
The Division is an American Lifetime Television original series about a team of women police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The series premiered on January 7, 2001 and ended on June 28, 2004 after 88 episodes.-Synopsis:...
recommended her. She had a recurring role in Showtime's Weeds
Weeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
(as Megan Graves) and was also on ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Providence
Providence (TV series)
Providence is an American drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.-Synopsis:The show revolves around Dr...
and Cold Case. She played Bonnie Richmond in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
drama Jericho
Jericho (TV series)
Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States...
. She had a recurring role in Season 3 of Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
's Lie to Me
Lie to Me
Lie to Me is a 2009-2011 American television series.Lie to Me may also refer to:* Lie to Me , a South Korean drama series* "Lie to Me" , an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
.
Stern appeared with Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
in the film The Last Shot
The Last Shot
The Last Shot is a 2004 comedy film starring Matthew Broderick, Alec Baldwin, Toni Collette, Tim Blake Nelson, an uncredited Joan Cusack, Tony Shalhoub, Buck Henry, Ray Liotta, Calista Flockhart and Ian Gomez...
and starred in the film Adventures of Power
Adventures of Power
Adventures of Power is an American feature film written and directed by Ari Gold, starring Ari Gold, Michael McKean, Jane Lynch, Shoshannah Stern, Chiu Chi Ling, and Adrian Grenier and featuring Steven Williams, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Annie Golden and Nick Kroll, with a cameo performance by Rush drummer...
. She also appeared on the popular music video "Yes We Can
Yes We Can
"Yes We Can" is the first single from Change Is Now: Renewing America's Promise, a compilation album organised and produced by Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.I.Am...
", written by will.i.am
Will.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. , better known by his stage name will.i.am and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer...
for the Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
campaign.
Deaf West Theatre
- Open WindowOpen WindowOpen Window is an album by the American ambient musician Robert Rich. This is an album of improvised piano solos. Rich’s piano solos have been a part of his live concerts for over 20 years but this is the first time that a recording has been released in a recorded form.The material on this album...
.... Susan (directed by Eric Simonson) - Children of a Lesser GodChildren of a Lesser GodChildren of a Lesser God is a 1986 American romantic drama film directed by Randa Haines and written by Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff. An adaptation of Medoff's Tony Award-winning stage play of the same name, the film stars William Hurt and Marlee Matlin as two employees at a school for the deaf:...
.... Sarah (directed by Joe Giamalva) - The Vagina MonologuesThe Vagina MonologuesThe Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which ran at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre after a limited run at AFRICA in 1996. Ensler originally starred in the production which was produced by David Stone, Nina Essman, Dan Markley, The Araca Group, Willa Shalit, Mike Skipper...
.... Ensemble (directed by Jane Norman) - The Doctor in Spite of Himself .... Martine (directed by Tim McCarty)
- Romeo and JulietRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
.... Juliet (directed by Julianna Fjeld) - AladdinAladdinAladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
.... Dancer (directed by CJ Jones) - The Cat and the CanaryThe Cat and the CanaryThe Cat and the Canary is a stage play by John Willard, adapted at least four times into feature films, in 1927, 1930, 1939, and again in 1979.Willard's stage play opened on February 7, 1922 in New York City.-Plot:...
.... Annabelle (directed by CJ Jones) - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumA 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....
.... Gymnasia (directed by CJ Jones) - Anne of Green GablesAnne of Green GablesAnne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
.... Anne (directed by Charles Katz)
Television
- Threat MatrixThreat MatrixThreat Matrix is a 2003 American drama television series. It lasted 16 episodes. The plot consisted of the events in a United States Homeland Security anti-terrorism unit, led by Special agent John Kilmer....
(2008) as Holly Brodeen - WeedsWeedsWeeds may refer to:* Weed, a type of common plant* Weeds , an American comedy drama series, starting 2005* Weeds , a 1987 film starring Nick Nolte* "Weeds" , an episode of the TV series Millennium...
(2005-2006) as Megan Graves
Films
- Adventures of Power (2008) as Annie
- Sweet Nothing in My Ear (2008) (TV movie) as Valerie Park
- The Hammer: The Matt Hamill Story (2010) as Kristi