Anthony Natale’s Biography

Born in 1967, opportunity was scarce for a deaf boy like Anthony Natale. A first-generation Italian-Canadian, Natale grew up in St. Catharines, Ontario. Natale was a class clown destined to seize his dream. The dream first captured Natale following the 1978 release of the hit musical comedy Grease. At the time, closed captioning was widely unavailable, so Natale improvised, bringing a pop-up book about the movie to the theater. From that day forward, Natale knew he wanted to be an actor. He graduated from Ontario’s Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf and then earned a Bachelor of Arts in Film Production with a minor in Theater Arts from California State University Northridge (CSUN).

Early film career: Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995),  Jerry Maguire (1996). Starred  in Universal Signs (2008) & TIDFAF Opening Night Film 2009, and won the Feel Good Film Festival’s “Best Actor” award for his performance as the protagonist, a tormented deaf artist named Andrew.

Selected film appearances: Children of a Lesser God (1986), His Bodyguard (1998), City of Angels (1998), Two Shades of Blue (1999), Sorority Boys (2002), and Date Movie (2006)

Television appearances:  Natale plays a recurring role as Emmett’s father, Cameron, in ABC Family’s hit drama Switched at Birth.  He also plays  Dr. Lambert in CSI, alongside Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin. Additional credits include: Seventh Heaven, Ellen (with Ellen DeGeneres), and Beauty and The Beast.

Natale starred in “How to talk to a person who can’t hear,” the first video made to teach sign language to the general public. The project earned awards from the U.S. International Film & Video Festival, including a “Young Artist” award for Natale.

He also serves as an ASL Master for several projects including Switched at Birth, and taught ASL to dancers on Michael Jackson’s London Tour (2009). He also can be seen in the music video of Tim Sweeny’s, “Baby I Try for You,” reaching one million YouTube views since its 2014 release.

At present, he continues his work with Deaf West productions, acting, translating, and consulting for Spring Awakening, Big River, Sleepy Beauty Wakes, and Pippin.

A member of SAG and AFTRA, Natale resides in Los Angeles, basking in the California sun and staying active. The boy from St. Catherines, Ontario, remains profoundly thankful for the tremendous contributions and support of his family.