# Differently-Abled Actors and Actresses **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 8, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118 "2022-02-08T19:03:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/1 "2022-02-08T19:03:06Z")
I recently completed my re-watch of _Columbo_ and was thinking about Peter Falk’s glass eye (in one episode he jokes about it!) That made me think of other actors & actresses that might be differently-abled (note that I am using “differently-abled” as a more modern synonym for “disabled” or “handicapped”). Peter Falk and Sammy Davis Jr. each had a prosthetic eye. Sandy Duncan doesn’t have a prosthetic eye but is blind in one eye. Lionel Barrymore was in a wheelchair from 1937 on. Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1998 and was on _Spin City_ from '96-'01. Oscar winner Marlee Matlin is deaf. RJ Mitte from _Breaking Bad_ has cerebral palsy (although his character had more disability than Mitte does in real life). I just saw [Prince Amponsah](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9029799/), a burn victim and double amputee, in _Station Eleven_. And [Samuel McKoy-Johnson](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9066815) in _Wu Tang: An American Saga_ is wheelchair-bound due to brittle bone disease. Who else? Note I’m really looking for actors and actresses here, not presenters like Alex Brooker and Adam Hills. Also not other performers such as Ray Charles or Itzhak Perlman. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/2 "2022-02-08T19:09:05Z")
[Daryl Mitchell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Mitchell_(actor)) continued acting after being paralyzed from the waist down. I remember when I saw him in a wheelchair in Inside Man I thought it was just a character trait. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/3 "2022-02-08T19:15:14Z")
Gaten Matarazzo, in Stranger Things has cleidocranial dysplasia. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/4 "2022-02-08T19:16:11Z")
Watching a lot of British cop shows has introduced me to [Liz Carr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Carr), who uses a wheelchair due to anthrogryposis multiplex congenita, which is a congenital joint contraction. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/5 "2022-02-08T19:17:42Z")
I learned years ago that James Coburn had severe arthritis. Ever after I found myself staring at his hands. Bill Nighy has Dupuytren’s contracture, which also visibly effects his hands. And of course Geri Jewell is famously one of the first people with cerebral palsy to be cast in a regular role on a series (The Facts of Life). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/6 "2022-02-08T19:17:58Z")
> **[Chris Burke (actor)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Burke_(actor))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Christopher Joseph Burke (born August 26, 1965) is an American actor. He has become best known for his character Charles "Corky" Thatcher on the television series Life Goes On. > Burke is the youngest of four children of Marian Burke, a retired trade-show manager, and Frank Burke, a retired NYPD inspector. Burke was born with Down syndrome at a time when little was known about the disorder, and his parents were told to institutionalize him. Instead... ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/7 "2022-02-08T19:21:19Z")
Forgot about Chris! I never watched _Life Goes On_ (I’ve never really been in to dramas) but him being on the show was a big deal when I was a kid. Also, funny there’s a big thread about Peter Dinklage going on in this very forum but I forgot to mention him. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/8 "2022-02-08T19:21:27Z")
Gary Burghoff has a birth defect known as Poland syndrome, which led to brachydactyly – three fingers on his left hand are shorter than the fingers on his right hand. When he was on _MASH_, as Radar O’Reilly, Burghoff would usually disguise this fact by holding something (such as a clipboard) in his left hand, or thrusting that hand into a pocket. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/9 "2022-02-08T19:23:17Z")
[Cole Sibus](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9108320/) was on the short-lived series _Stumptown_ with Jake Johnson. He also is an actor with Down Syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/10 "2022-02-08T19:26:41Z")
Just a linguistic note - I think English (American English, anyway) is shifting away from distinguishing gender by using “actors” and “actresses.” Everyone is an actor now! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/11 "2022-02-08T19:26:41Z")
Martin Sheen’s left arm was damaged by a doctor’s forceps during birth, and he suffers from Erb’s palsy as a result. He has somewhat limited movement in that arm, which is several inches shorter than his right arm; the “Bartlet flip” (an unusual method for putting on a jacket), which he used frequently while on _The West Wing_, is due to him not being able to don a jacket in the usual way. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/l8BzByjH4q0/maxresdefault.jpg "President Bartlet Jacket Flips - Supercut") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8BzByjH4q0) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/12 "2022-02-08T19:28:15Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Just a linguistic note - I think English (American English, anyway) is shifting away from distinguishing gender by using “actors” and “actresses.” Everyone is an actor now! I had the same thought and overcorrected I guess! D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/13 "2022-02-08T19:36:32Z")
Harold Lloyd blew off part of his hand in an early gag gone wrong and wore a rubber prosthetic. [Since he’s dead and no longer needs it, you can have it yourself.](https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/harold-lloyd-prosthetic-fingers-and-pair-of-later-737-c-3ae85638e1) [Herbert Marshall](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Marshall) lost his leg in WWI, in the [same regiment](https://forums.tcm.com/topic/48639-the-ww1-london-scottish-regiments-hollywood-connection/) as Claude Rains; who was blind on one eye after being gassed. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/14 "2022-02-08T19:41:32Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > [Samuel McKoy-Johnson](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9066815) in _Wu Tang: An American Saga_ is wheelchair-bound due to brittle bone disease. [Sammi Haney](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10818386/?ref_=tt_cl_t_5) (Esperanza, in Raising Dion) has osteogenesis imperfecta as well. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/15 "2022-02-08T19:41:39Z")
Alaqua Cox, who played Echo in the recent Disney+ series _Hawkeye_ and is set to star in her own series as that character, is deaf and has a prosthetic leg. (The comic book character was deaf; they added the prosthetic leg to the character after the actor was cast). James Doohan, Scotty of Star Trek, had a finger amputated on one hand due to a combat injury. Pretty much all of his roles included careful staging and framing to conceal that. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/16 "2022-02-08T19:58:10Z")
Actors on the autism spectrum: Dan Ackroyd, Daryl Hannah, Anthony Hopkins ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/17 "2022-02-08T20:03:15Z")
Stephen Colbert is deaf in one ear. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/18 "2022-02-08T20:16:02Z")
[Jamie Brewer](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4661932/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t20), best known for her work in several seasons of American Horror Story is another actor with Downs syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/19 "2022-02-08T20:23:17Z")
[Alaqua Cox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaqua_Cox) played Echo in Hawkeye. She is missing a foot (something new to the character, the comic book version doesn’t have this issue). She is deaf (so is her character in both the comics and the TV show). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/20 "2022-02-08T20:27:23Z")
Geri Jewell on _ **The Facts of Life** _ had cerebral palsy. Due to the ministrations of a clumsy obstetrician, Frank SInatra lost his left earlobe at birth. Once you see this, you can never un-see it. William Shatner suffers from tinnitus. Jack Lord apparently suffered from some kind of neural disorder but went on playing Steve McGarrett on _ **Hawaii Five-O** _ anyway. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118.md?page=2)