Television: Mainstream Programming

The Early Years

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, deaf characters were increasingly present on television but most often played by hearing people. It wasn’t until the 1970s that deaf characters were played by Deaf people, but even then, more frequently than not, they were played by hearing actors. The first deaf child actor appeared on Ben Casey in 1964 while the first adult Deaf actor, Audree Norton, appeared in 1968 on an episode of Mannix. The first Black Deaf actor did not appear until 1975, and it was on an episode of Good Times.

During the 1970s, popular television shows, such as Barney Miller and The Love Boat, incorporated single episodes with deaf characters. The most notable recurring deaf character in the 1970s was the introduction of Linda Bove’s character on the popular children’s television program Sesame Street (1971 to 2003). Another deaf actor, Lou Ferrigno, played a recurring role as the Hulk on The Incredible Hulk (1977 to 1983), although the character he played was not deaf.

Toward the end of the decade, there were four made-for-TV movies about deaf characters, yet three of them were played by hearing actors. The first movie about a deaf character played by a Deaf actor was And Your Name Is Jonah (1979). In this movie, Deaf child actor Jeffrey Bravin plays Jonah, a boy misdiagnosed as mentally retarded. His parents come to find he is actually deaf. They learn sign language and eventually send him to a school that uses a total communication approach (talking, signing, lipreading, etc.). Deaf actors Bernard Bragg and Billy Seago also appeared in this movie.

Themes during the 1970s revolved around fixing the character’s deafness through surgery, characters struggling to communicate, or characters’ hearing being suddenly restored. During this time period, there was minimal use of sign language, and even when characters did sign, it was frequently choppy or awkward. Deaf characters also were often portrayed as perfect lipreaders and communicated frequently through lipreading and/or speaking.

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