Danny Murphy (British actor)


Danny Murphy is a British deaf actor who appeared in the 2019 film The Parts You Lose alongside Aaron Paul. Murphy is fluent in British Sign Language.

Background

Danny Murphy was born on 20 February 2004. He is fifth-generation deaf on his father's side of the family. Murphy grew up in Wallsend in England with his parents Kelly and Charles and his older brother and younger sister. His parents are deaf, and his siblings are hearing. Murphy's first language is British Sign Language, and spoken English is his second language. Murphy moved to London to attend Mary Hare School in Newbury, Berkshire. As of 2019, he was completing GCSE's in English, Maths, Science, Media, Drama, ICT, Geography and BTEC Business Studies.
By the time Murphy was eight years old, he had acted in a short film featuring skits. He later auditioned to host a CITV programme aimed at deaf and hard of hearing viewers. Murphy also created comedy videos on YouTube and has received views. Murphy was nominated for the Chronicle Champions Awards 2017 in the Young Role Model category, and he won the Diana Award from the British Deaf Association.
In 2017, the producers of The Parts You Lose initiated an international casting search, supported by Deaf West Theatre, for a hard of hearing actor and cast Murphy as the film's deaf boy. Murphy learned American Sign Language for the role. The film was released in the United States in October 2019 and will be released in the United Kingdom in March 2020.
In 2019, Murphy went to Germany to host a workshop to teach deaf youths about filming and editing. He also began working on three new films in Europe and the United States.