One of the first deaf actresses to have a major role on a TV series died on this day (April 22, 2015) in Fremont, California. CBS Photo archive Audree Norton was 88 years old. A founding member of The National Theatre of the Deaf, Norton appeared on the CBS show Mannix in 1968 and later on The Streets of San Francisco and Family Affair. When she was cut out of a role just because she was deaf, Norton filed a complaint with the Screen Actors Guild. John Schuchman suggests in h

Big Ocean, the first K-pop group composed entirely of deaf or hard-of-hearing members , debuted on April 20, 2024. Members include PJ (a YouTuber who educated viewers about deaf culture), Jiseok (a professional ski racer) and Chanyeon (who worked as an audiologist and wears a hearing device with Bluetooth that streams music to him directly from mobile devices.). Big Ocean incorporates sign language into their performances, including Korean Sign Language, American Sign Langua

Russell Harvard was born on this day (April 16, 1981) in Pasadena. Harvard has made his mark in both film and stage. The Austin, Texas native grew up deaf, communicating in ASL and lip-reading. Harvard’s mother was born deaf and did not learn sign until she was six years old. After playing roles in stage productions at Gallaudet University such as Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing , Harvard has had parts in CBS’ CSI: New York  with Marlee Matlin and in Deaf West Theatre’s

Deaf actress Lauren Ridloff was born on April 6, 1978. image from New. York Times video (see below) She first came to national attention with her role as Connie on the TV series The Walking Dead . Ridloff was crowned Miss Deaf America in 2000 and was nominated for several awards for her leading role in the Broadway play Children of a Lesser God. In 2021, she became Marvel’s first deaf superhero in the movie Eternals . She is a mother to two young children who are also deaf.

The deaf actress is best known for the role she played on the NBC show New Amsterdam, oncologist Elizabeth Wilder. Family: She was born on March 31, 1990 in Louisville, Kentucky to William and Kim Frank. She has a brother named Jasper Frank and a sister named Anne-Marie Frank. She presently lives in Austin, Texas with her cat and boyfriend Julian, who is a videographer. She identifies as pansexual. Hearing: Sandra Mae Frank was born premature and slowly lost her hearing unti

On March 30, 1987, William Hurt presented Marlee Matlin with the Best Actress Oscar at the 59th Annual Academy Awards. Only 21 years old, Matlin became the first deaf person to win for her role in Children of a Lesser God.  She played a custodian at a school for the deaf and hard of hearing and became romantically involved with a new hearing teacher played by William Hurt. At age eight, she began taking roles in children’s theater productions for the International Center on D

‘CODA’ Star Troy Kotsur won the best supporting trophy at the Film Independent Spirit Award on March 6, 2022. Image: Variety That makes him the first deaf actor to win the award. Kotsur plays deaf fisherman Frank Rossi in the film CODA.  In accepting the honor, Kotsur thanked the film’s producers and applauded them for their vision. He went on to thank his wife and daughter. Backstage he said: “You know how long it took me to get here? And it takes doctors a long time to get

Deaf actress Millicent Simmonds was born on this date (March 6) in 2003. Millie has starred in several major films including Wonderstruck, where she plays a 12-year-old deaf girl living in the 1927 New Jersey who runs away from home, and A Quiet Place  and A Quiet Place II  which are about a family that must stay silent to survive. She made her Broadway debut in 2023 with the play Grey House .   She grew up in Utah where, at the age of two months, an accidental medication ov

Curtis Pride was born on this date (Dec 17) in 1968. He was born 95% deaf on Dec 17, 1968, in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. Pride was mainstreamed as a child and played multiple sports in high school. He excelled in soccer, becoming a 1986 Parade Magazine High School All American. Pride graduated high school with a 3.6 GPA. At William and Mary, he was the starting point guard on the basketball team. The New York Mets drafted Pride in round 10 of the 1986 MLB draft. The only d

It was on this day (Dec. 6) in 1976 that professional stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil set a record for land speed by a female driver. It was in Oregon's Alvord Desert that Kitty hit 512 miles per hour. Her women's absolute land speed record stood until 2019. The previous record had been 321 mph. Childhood diseases left her deaf and nearly killed her. She became a champion diver at a young age. As a teenager, she planned to take part in the 1964 Olympics but an injury and illness cut

Nyle Dimarco won America's Next Top Model  contest on this date (Dec. 4) in 2015. Photo ABC The first deaf contestant to win on the reality show, afterward Dimarco told People magazine: "Being a deaf person on a television show alone is pretty groundbreaking, so it felt incredible just to be on the show – but to win it was amazing!" Read more of that interview here .

Linda Bove was born on this day (Nov 30) in 1945. She’s remembered as the deaf lady on Sesame Street. Bove was a regular on the show from 1971 to 2003 as Linda the Librarian , introducing thousands of children to sign language and deaf community issues. In 1991, she and her husband founded DeafWest, a resident sign-language theater in Los Angeles which has produced several award-winning shows. Here's a video of her from 2010 talking about Why We Need Deaf Actors in Deaf Roles

On Nov. 25, 2008, the man who wrote a famous play about Helen Keller called The Miracle Worker  died William Gibson's story of Helen Keller’s relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, won the 1960 Tony Award for best play and is still regularly performed around the country in community theaters. Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, played the stage roles of Sullivan and Keller, respectively. They went on to win Academy Awards when repeating the parts for the film version in 1962

Today is Mojo Mathers birthday (Nov 23, 1966). Mojo Mathers became the first deaf member of New Zealand's parliament when she ran as a Green candidate in 2011. She was born profoundly deaf and is a lipreader. She began to use sign language in the late 2000s New Zealand became the first country to adopt sign language as an official language in 2006 and now, some 25,000 people use sign language in the country. The New Zealand government provides interpreters in Parliament as we

The deaf actress was born in England on Nov. 17, 1994 Image: Meena Getting to know Rose Ayling-Ellis: Stars in t he TV crime drama “Code...

Louise Fletcher, best known for her role as Nurse Ratched in the 1975 classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,  died on this date three years ago at the age of 88. image from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Fletcher won a Best Actress Academy Award for her work on the film. The second of four children, she grew up on Birmingham, Alabama. Her father, Robert Fletcher, served the deaf community as an Episcopal priest. He started dozens of churches for the deaf in Alabama. None o

Deaf since the age of 4, deaf actor and drummer Bob Hiltermann was born on this day (August 1, 1952) in Germany, the 10th of eleven children born. A bout with meningitis left him deaf but he wasn't diagnosed until the age of ten. Hiltermann learned ASL while attending Gallaudet University and later formed MuSign  (a Signing/Mime company). He acted with Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God,  was featured in See What I'm Saying  and The Hammer , he created ASL videos calle

Actress Shoshannah Stern is now 45 years old! image: thepaparazzigamer Here are some things to know about her: Shoshannah was born July...

Comedian Stephen Colbert was born on this day (May 13) in 1964. image: Montclair Film What many people do not know about the comedian is...

To My Father is a tribute to Kotsur's father. Filmmaker John Papola says the documentary is a powerful tribute to the love between...