Famous Deaf People
When Nyle DiMarco said ‘I think the biggest misconception is that people think deaf people are not able to do things’, she couldn’t have been more correct in her observation. Did you know that some of the greatest men/women on earth whom we know or revere today were actually partially or completely deaf in their lifetime? They had the courage to rise above their limitation and become iconic figures that the world would take pride in. If you have a nick of doubt about it, read this. American history would have been miser had there been no Thomas Alva Edison or Helen Keller in it! The most celebrated American inventor and businessman who is best known for inventing the first practical electric light bulb and phonograph, Edison was actually deaf from his childhood. Helen Keller was not just deaf but blind too. But she highly determined that she was, she went on to become the first deaf-blind person to gain a Bachelor degree in Arts. German music wouldn’t have had its share of greatness without the eminent pianist and classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven. But did you know that Beethoven suffered from hearing impairment? And these are just a handful of the many more legendary figures from history who were actually deaf. Check out the list of famous deaf people who made it big in life.
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1
Leslie Nielsen(Actor and Comedian Known for His Films: ‘Forbidden Planet’, ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ and ‘Airplane!’)
Birthdate: February 11, 1926
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Regina, Canada
Died: November 28, 2010
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)
2
Marlee Matlin(The First Deaf Performer to Win an Academy Award and the Youngest Winner in the 'Best Actress' Category)
Birthdate: August 24, 1965
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Morton Grove, Illinois, United States
Height: 5'4" (163 cm)
3
Tamika Catchings
(Basketball player)
Birthdate: July 21, 1979
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Stratford, New Jersey, United States
Height: 6'2" (188 cm)
Birthdate: June 3, 1993
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Boca Raton, Florida
Height: 5'10" (178 cm)
5
Fanny Blankers-Koen
(Dutch Track and Field Athlete)
Birthdate: April 26, 1918
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Lage Vuursche, Netherlands
Died: January 25, 2004
Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
6
Tigran Petrosian
(One of the Best Chess Players in Armenia During his Generation)
Birthdate: June 17, 1929
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Tbilisi, Georgia
Died: August 13, 1984
7
Matt Hamill
(American Mixed Martial Artist and Wrestler)
Birthdate: October 5, 1976
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Loveland, Ohio, United States
Height: 6'1" (185 cm)
8
David Wright
(Baseball player)
Birthdate: December 20, 1982
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Norfolk
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
9
Lester Piggott
(British Professional Jockey and Trainer)
Birthdate: November 5, 1935
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Wantage, Berkshire, England
Died: May 29, 2022
Height: 5'8" (173 cm)
10
Ayumi Hamasaki
(Singer, Seiyū, Songwriter, Model, Actor, Singer-songwriter, Composer, Lyricist, Poet, Record producer)
Birthdate: October 2, 1978
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Fukuoka
Height: 5'2" (157 cm)
11
Maarten Stekelenburg
(Dutch Football Goalkeeper)
Birthdate: September 22, 1982
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Haarlem, Netherlands
Height: 6'6" (198 cm)
12
Lauren Ridloff
(Known for her roles in the TV series The Walking Dead and the film Eternals.)
Birthdate: April 6, 1978
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
13
Evelyn Glennie
(Composer, Percussionist)
Birthdate: July 19, 1965
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Aberdeen
Birthdate: June 26, 1916
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Wisconsin
Died: September 10, 1988
15
Gertrude Ederle
(American Competition Swimmer, Olympic Champion, and World Record-Holder in Five Events)
Birthdate: October 23, 1906
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Died: November 30, 2003
Height: 5'5" (165 cm)
Birthdate: December 21, 1829
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Hanover, New Hampshire,United States
Died: May 24, 1889
17
Stephanie Nogueras
(Known for her roles in the television series Switched at Birth[2] and Grimm, and the 2018 film Unfriended: Dark Web.)
Birthdate: November 18, 1989
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Camden, New Jersey, United States
Height: 5'1" (155 cm)
Birthdate: March 6, 2001
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Port Moody, Canada
Height: 4'11" (150 cm)
19
Shelley Beattie
(American Professional Bodybuilder)
Birthdate: August 24, 1967
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Santa Ana, California, United States
Died: February 16, 2008
Height: 5'6" (168 cm)
20
Juan Miles
(Argentine Polo Player)
Birthdate: June 24, 1895
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died: December 18, 1981
Birthdate: May 1, 1522
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Liré, Orée-d'Anjou, France
Died: January 1, 1560
22
Lance Cairns
(Former New Zealand All-Rounder Cricketer)
Birthdate: October 10, 1949
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Picton, New Zealand
23
Robert Marchand
(French Centenarian Cyclist)
Birthdate: November 26, 1911
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Amiens, France
Died: May 22, 2021
24
Giovanni Baglione
(Italian Painter and Art Historian)
Birthdate: 1566 AD
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: December 30, 1643
25
Lance Allred
(Basketball player, Writer)
Birthdate: February 2, 1981
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Pinesdale, Montana, United States
Height: 6'11" (211 cm)
26
Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard
(Scientist)
Birthdate: May 5, 1809
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Sheffield, Massachusetts, United States
Died: April 27, 1889
27
Kathleen Ollerenshaw
(Mathematician)
Birthdate: October 1, 1912
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Withington, Manchester, England
Died: August 10, 2014
Birthdate: January 2, 1877
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Ozalj
Died: March 29, 1906
29
Godfrey Huggins
(Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1933 to 1953)
Birthdate: July 6, 1883
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Bexley, Kent, England
Died: May 8, 1971
30
Vanessa Lima Vidal
(Brazilian Beauty Pageant Contestant and Beach Volleyball Player)
Birthdate: March 3, 1984
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Fortaleza, State of Ceará, Brazil
Height: 5'10" (178 cm)
31
Anders Gustav Ekeberg
(Swedish Chemist Who Discovered 'Tantalum')
Birthdate: January 16, 1767
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Stockholm, Sweden
Died: February 11, 1813
32
Charles Joseph Kickham
(Revolutionary)
Birthdate: May 9, 1828
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Mullinahone, Ireland
Died: August 22, 1882
33
Sonu Anand Sharma
(Retired Indian Deaf Badminton Player and a Deaflympics Gold Medal Winner)
Birthdate: March 8, 1975
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: New Delhi, Delhi, India
34
Elena Yakovishina
(Russian Alpine Skier)
Birthdate: September 17, 1992
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia
Height: 5'7" (170 cm)
Birthdate: March 11, 1916
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Saint Austell, England
Died: July 25, 1994
Birthdate: March 24, 1895
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Montevideo, Uruguay
Died: October 4, 1960
37
Ildikó Rejtő
(Retired Hungarian Two-Time Olympic and Five-Time World Champion Foil Fencer)
Birthdate: May 11, 1937
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Budapest, Hungary
Height: 5'5" (165 cm)
38
Ivan Karlovich Arnold
(Russian Artist and Educator Who Founded the Moscow School for the Deaf)
Birthdate: September 25, 1805
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
Died: April 26, 1891
Birthplace: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States