Katie Leclerc

Katie Lynn Leclerc (born November 6, 1986) is an American actress. She has appeared on several television series, including Veronica Mars, Fashion House and The Big Bang Theory. In 2011, she was cast in the television show Switched at Birth, starring as Daphne Vasquez.

Personal life

Katie Leclerc was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Lakewood, Colorado. She is the youngest of three siblings. She started learning American Sign Language at 17, before she found out she had a disorder which includes hearing loss. Her older sister also teaches ASL. At age 20, Leclerc was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, a degenerative inner ear disorder, the symptoms of which include fluctuating hearing loss and vertigo. Both her father and older sister have Ménière's disease as well.

She married longtime boyfriend Brian Habecost, a real estate salesman, on September 6, 2014.

Career

Katie Leclerc discovered her passion for acting in seventh grade when she got the lead role in a production of Annie. She then moved to San Diego, to pursue theatre at Valley Center High School. She took part in commercials for Pepsi, Cingular, Comcast, and GE. In 2006, she was in the Rascal Flatts video "What Hurts the Most" as a student in the classroom. She started her television career when she guest-starred on Veronica Mars. Since then, she has acted in many other television shows. Her first main acting role was in the show Switched at Birth, where she plays Daphne Vasquez, a Deaf teenager who was given to the wrong family after birth.