# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/61 "2022-02-09T05:13:56Z")
Jim Byrnes, who was a regular on _Wiseguy_ and _Highlander_, lost both his lower legs in a car accident. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/62 "2022-02-09T07:09:37Z")
More missing fingertips: Lee Van Cleef and Matthew Perry. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/63 "2022-02-09T07:14:53Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > 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. Also in the Marvel universe, deaf actor Lauren Ridloff played the speedster Makkari in _Eternals._ ---
**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 9, 2022, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/64 "2022-02-09T10:36:08Z")
Patricia Neal of _ **The Day the Earth Stood Still** _ fame had to learn to speak again after suffering a stroke. It was established in an episode of _ **Family Guy** _ that Peter Griffin is “slightly retarded.” ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/65 "2022-02-09T11:27:35Z")
Not sure if you consider this “differently-abled”, but Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) was scalded by boiling water as a toddler, requiring skin graphs covering 35% of her body. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/66 "2022-02-09T12:02:03Z")
Rolf de Heer’s movie [Dance Me To My Song](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154378/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl), has a lead character who is wheel-chair bound with cerebral palsy, played by Heather Rose who has that particular condition. Its a very obscure movie, even by Rolf de Heer’s standards, but incredibly moving. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/67 "2022-02-09T12:20:29Z")
Milo Anthony Ventimiglia has damaged facial nerves resulting in what he calls a “crooked mouth” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/68 "2022-02-09T12:26:54Z")
Alexis Denishof had Bell’s Palsy for a number of years. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/69 "2022-02-09T14:12:51Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Anthony Carrigan](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/anthony_carrigan-getty-h_2019_.jpg) has an autoimmune disorder that caused all the hair on his body to fall out. There are a few actors with alopecia - they often get typecast as killers, aliens or androids - [Tómas Lemarquis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%B3mas_Lemarquis), [Joseph Gatt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Gatt), [Derek Mears](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Mears) - all ones I know from SciFi and horror. About the only one not to be _[too](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nardole)_ typecast is [Matt Lucas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Lucas). ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/70 "2022-02-09T14:27:19Z")
British tv audiences will be familiar with [Storme Toolis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storme_Toolis) from the show New Tricks. She has cerebral palsy. I recently saw her on an episode of Dalgleish. ---
**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 9, 2022, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/71 "2022-02-09T14:46:09Z")
Huh, today I learned there is a new version of _Dalgleish_! ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/72 "2022-02-09T14:49:14Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > 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. For those not knowing Brit cop shows, she also appeared in an episode of the second season of The Witcher. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/73 "2022-02-09T15:14:43Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Not sure if you consider this “differently-abled”, but Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) was scalded by boiling water as a toddler, requiring skin graphs covering 35% of her body. Similarly, Amanda Redman of the BBC series “New Tricks”. You can frequently see the scarring on her upper left arm depending on what she’s wearing. I wouldn’t really call it a disability though. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/74 "2022-02-09T15:36:47Z")
It’s streaming on Acorn. From all accounts it’s a vast improvement from the original. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/75 "2022-02-09T16:11:46Z")
[Nicola Chegwin](https://www.mandy.com/uk/actor/nicola-chegwin) from one episode of Queens of Mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/76 "2022-02-09T16:24:26Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > About the only one not to be _[too](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nardole)_ typecast is [Matt Lucas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Lucas). Oh, I’ve seen that guy as himself on stuff like _Mock the Week_, and never realized he was one of the guys from _Little Britain._ ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/77 "2022-02-09T16:27:14Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Not sure if you consider this “differently-abled”, but Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) was scalded by boiling water as a toddler, requiring skin graphs covering 35% of her body. Obviously he was a musician, but he did appear in a handful of movies…Joey Ramone also suffered from serious burns due a kettle exploding in his face in the late seventies. He did the gig that night covered in lotion before going to the hospital. There’s a reason one could barely see his face through his hair for much of the ‘mones’ existence. Joey also had debilitating OCD. There’s a story about the band returning from a European tour, and Joey was almost all the way home from La Guardia when he asked his driver to take him back, because he had to touch something at the airport before going home in order to get through the day. He had a really rough time of it. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/78 "2022-02-09T16:34:02Z")
On _Star Trek: TNG_ Riker’s unique way of standing and sitting is due to Jonathan Frakes injuring his back. [Riker sits down](https://www.themarysue.com/riker-sits-down/) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/79 "2022-02-09T17:11:20Z")
If we’re counting rock stars, Ian Dury had polio as a child, leading to a withering of his arm. Robert Wyatt was a paraplegic after falling out a hotel window when his first album came out. He still continued to perform and write music. Both had issues when they appeared on UK TV where the shows were originally reluctant to put them on camera (they felt Wyatt’s wheelchair was not suitable for family viewing). Eventually the show caved. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118/80 "2022-02-09T17:13:37Z")
Along those lines, Rick Allen, the drummer for Def Leppard, lost his arm in a car crash in 1984 but continued to drum for the band. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/differently-abled-actors-and-actresses/959118.md?page=5)