Genevieve Barr

Genevieve Barr
Born	Genevieve Louise Barr December 1985 Harrogate, England
Occupation	Actress, teacher
Years active	2009-present

Genevieve Louise Barr (born December 1985, Harrogate) is an English actress. Born deaf, she made her major acting debut in July 2010 playing the role of a deaf teenager in the BBC One prime-time drama The Silence. She previously played a deaf nurse in the Channel 4 2009 comedy, The Amazing Dermot.

Barr was born deaf into a hearing family with no hereditary record of deafness, and has a sister two years younger, Antonia, and twin teenage siblings, Robert and Sabrina. They went to Highfield preparatory school and now attend Ripon Grammar School. She was fitted with hearing aids aged four and has never learned sign language, relying on lip-reading to complete the sound picture. Barr attended mainstream education at Harrogate Ladies' College, and studied English and History at Edinburgh University, graduating in 2008. A talented sports-woman, she played rounders for England at 15, was a high-board diving champion in Harrogate, captained the Edinburgh University lacrosse team, going on to play for Scotland. Barr enrolled in the Teach First graduate scheme and was teaching in St Michaels Catholic college, a secondary school in Bermondsey, South London before commencing her acting career. In 2011 Genevieve was fitted with a Phonak Naida S hearing device.

Barr had always considered a career in acting, but felt that her voice was not coherent enough. A friend working for a production company encouraged her to audition for a role as a deaf nurse in Channel 4's The Amazing Dermot starring Rhys Darby, a 30-minute pilot episode as part of the Comedy Showcase series. After this role, filmed during the school holidays, Barr returned to teaching, but she was spotted by Company Pictures and asked to audition for a role in a BBC One drama, The Silence. The Amazing Dermot was broadcast on 4 December 2009.

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