Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Famous People Who Were Hard of Hearing

One of the many points that Bouton makes in her book this week, is that those who are hearing impaired generally try to hide it as much as possible.  It's something they try to constantly cope with, without the wide world knowing it.  So here are a few people that you may not have known are hard of hearing.


Thomas Edison

We all know about the inventor of the light bulb, but did you know that he had trouble hearing, though he did invent the phonograph.  It was never determined what exactly caused his deafness, and Edison himself gave many explanations for it.  It's widely thought, however, that he lost his hearing from scarlet fever when he was young.


Bill Clinton

That's right, our former President of the United States had problems with his hearing later in life.  But that didn't stop him from running a country.  In 1997, about three years into his first term, he announced he was getting hearing aids.  It didn't even seem to slow him down.


Lou Ferrigno

That's right; The Incredible Hulk lost 75 - 80% of his hearing when he was a child.  But it didn't stop him from winning multiple body building awards and moving on to portray that big green giant that we all know and love: The Incredible Hulk


Marlee Beth Matlin

You may not recognize the name, but you'll probably recognize her face.  She's been in a litany of things from Law & Order to the most recent show, Switched at Birth (a ridiculous drama about two girls getting switched at birth and one of them is deaf and they find out about it years later.  Seriously, the worst kind of TV crack ever.)  Matlin is also the very first (and only) deaf person to win an Oscar for Best Actress.

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