Daniel was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. He attended mainstream schools in Duluth before transferring to the Minnesota State School for the Deaf in 8th grade. Daniel graduated from MSAD in 2008 and attended RIT in Rochester, NY and Gallaudet in Washington, DC.

 

Daniel moved to Los Angeles, CA in 2012 to join the Deaf West Theatre production of Cyrano. Shortly after Cyrano, Daniel landed a job as guest actor at Oakland University in Michigan working with Terp Theater. Daniel played, "Stinger," the lead role in their production of Police: Deaf: Near: Far. Daniel joined the cast of Switched at Birth (ABC Family Channel) in 2013 and continued in his co-starring role as the character of "Matthew" through the finale of the series aired in 2017.

 

In the Fall of 2013, Daniel teamed up once again with Deaf West, playing the lead role of "Charlie" in their production of Flowers for Algernon. Daniel played the co-lead role of "Moritz" in the critically acclaimed 2014 Deaf West production of Spring Awakening, which opened in the Rosenthal Theatre and moved to the Wallis Annenberg Theatre (Beverly Hills) in 2015. In the Fall of 2015, Daniel made his Broadway debut as “Mortiz” at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The show opened to rave reviews and ran until January 2016.

 

In 2017, Daniel joined the Norwegian company of Teater Manu for the lead role of “Jonas” in Jonas and the Body, traveling for performances in Norway and France over a seven-month period. His ongoing work includes co-leading acting workshops for Deaf students in area schools, serving as an acting teacher and coach for Deaf film camps as well as national speaking engagements for colleges and universities.

 

Daniel has received numerous awards and recognition, including the 2016 Theatre Award (Outstanding 2016 Broadway Debut Performance), Broadway.com’s “Top 10 Show-Stopping Performances of the 2015-2016 Broadway Season,” Huffington Post’s “Top 10 Best Theatrical Performances of 2015,” Theatremania.com’s “12 Best Broadway Debuts of 2015” and a 2014 Robby Award nomination for Excellence in Theatre. Daniel was also the 2014 Deaf Awareness Month Honoree for the City of Los Angeles, honoring his outstanding contributions to the arts and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities of Los Angeles.

 

Daniel is passionate about acting and supporting the Deaf community and spends his free time connecting with and meeting new friends all over the world through his ASL videos on YouTube, Deaf Gamers Network and his Facebook & Twitter accounts.

 

"ASL makes our world a more beautiful place." ~ Daniel N. Durant