Pretty much everyone knows the American Sign Language (ASL) sign for “I love you.” That’s just one of the many global impacts of Deaf culture. Deaf culture has made many impacts on history, pop culture and more, yet you might not know some of the many notable people living with hearing loss.

With many Deaf activists focusing on education, advocacy, and appreciation of Deaf culture (including through Deaf Awareness Month each September), let’s look at some famous people with Deafness and how adding subtitles and captions can help make your content more accessible for everyone.

7 Deaf Celebrities

There are many notable actors, musicians, and more who live with some form of Deafness. These celebrities help by providing much-needed representation for those living with hearing loss.

1. Lou Ferrigno

Lou Ferrigno is best known as a big green guy with a hot temper: the Incredible Hulk! He believes that his hearing loss was caused by a series of ear infections when he was a child, and now has almost 80% hearing loss. Lou’s impressive career is proof that everyone can be a superhero.

2. Nyle DiMarco

Nyle DiMarco made history as the first Deaf contestant (and winner!) on America’s Next Top Model. He also won Dancing With the Stars the following year. After his reality show debut, he has since become a Deaf activist and he strives to bring awareness to the beauty of Deaf culture while advocating for Deaf roles in television and movies to be played by actors who actually have the same disability.

3. Millie Bobby Brown

When she isn’t battling the monsters in the Upside Down as Eleven on Stranger Things, Millie Bobby Brown is serving as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. All the while she has total hearing loss in her right ear. She was born with partial hearing loss, which then progressed into total hearing loss.

4. Marlee Matlin

Marlee Matlin is a groundbreaking Deaf actress. After losing most of her hearing as a child and getting hearing aids, she went on to become a successful actress and Deaf advocate. Most recently, she starred in the movie CODA, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture.

5. Halle Berry

Halle Berry is a Hollywood icon. She has starred in many movies such as Monster’s Ball and X-Men, and even became the only Black woman (and first-ever woman of color) to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. She has hearing loss from a traumatic event that ruptured her eardrum and lost 80% of her hearing in her right ear.

6. Jane Lynch

There are many reasons why you could recognize Jane Lynch: her roles in mockumentaries like Best in Show, her stints in Broadway musicals like Funny Girl, or maybe her time wearing a bright red sweatsuit as gym teacher Sue Sylvester on Glee. Jane has hearing loss in one of her ears, which hasn’t stopped her from becoming a comedy icon.

7. Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert is a staple of American late-night television and comedy, most notably through his tenure as the host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. His hearing loss is related to a surgery he underwent as a child to repair a perforated eardrum, which ultimately left him completely deaf in his right ear.

5 Historical Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing People

While there are many glamorous hard-of-hearing celebrities, the most famous Deaf person is actually a girl from Alabama: Helen Keller! Let’s learn about some more Deaf and hard-of-hearing historical figures.

1. Helen Keller

Helen Keller was a Deaf-blind woman born in Alabama who made many groundbreaking strides for the Deaf community, including being the first American Deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor’s degree. Throughout her life, Helen remained a disability rights advocate and political activist.

2. Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was an American inventor best known for inventing a little thing called electricity. He contributed groundbreaking research to the fields of electric power generation, sound recording, and motion picture recording. Due to illness as a child, he developed total hearing loss in one ear and severe hearing loss in the other.

3. Juliette Gordon Low

Next time a little girl knocks on your door in a bright green sash asking if you want to buy some delicious cookies, remember Juliette Gordon Low. Juliette founded the Girl Scouts of America, which aimed at the time to help girls learn practical skills that could help them form careers. She lived with partial hearing loss for much of her life, then total hearing loss in one ear during adulthood.

4. Vint Cerf

The internet you’re using to read this article? You can thank a hard-of-hearing person for that. Vint Cerf is often called the “father of the internet,” along with his research partner Bob Kahn. Together, the two created the framework for what became the internet. Vint himself is hard-of-hearing, and served on the Board of Trustees for Gallaudet University, the first higher-education school founded for the education of Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.

5. Laurent Clerc

Laurent Clerc is sometimes referred to as the “The Apostle of the Deaf in America,” because of his groundbreaking efforts for Deaf advocacy and education. He was a French educator who helped to promote Deaf education and had a large role in helping change the stereotypes that Deaf or hard-of-hearing people couldn’t be educated. Along with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, he helped to found Gallaudet University.

4 Famous Deaf Athletes

Deaf people continue to prove that hearing loss isn’t a barrier to living an extraordinary life. These athletes with hearing loss do so by excelling in their sport.

1. Derrick Coleman

Derrick Coleman was the first Deaf player to play in the National Football League, signing his contract with the Seattle Seahawks in 2010. What started as partial hearing loss in his left ear ended up becoming almost total hearing loss in both ears. He starred in a Duracell commercial that inspired people by showcasing Coleman writing letters to two hard-of-hearing sisters, and then inviting them to the Super Bowl.

2. Gertrude Ederle

Gertrude was a pioneer in the field of women’s swimming, even becoming the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Because of this, she is sometimes called the “Queen of the Waves.” She developed hearing loss as a child and was almost completely deaf by her 30s.

3. Tamika Catchings

Tamika Catchings is a retired WNBA and Olympic basketball player who won many awards and medals. She was even inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame! She calls her hearing loss her “sixth sense,” and said that it has helped her become such a successful player. She was born with a hearing disability and wears hearing aids.

4. Heidi Zimmer

Heidi Zimmer is a Deaf-blind mountaineer, who was born completely deaf. She is the first deaf woman to reach the top of both Mount Denali and Mount Kilimanjaro, and the first deaf person to reach the top of Mt. Elbrus. Her goal is to become the first Deaf/Deaf-blind person to climb all of the Seven Summits, which includes Mt. Everest.

The Importance of Being Accessible

In addition to all the amazing people described above, it’s important to remember that there are many more people in the Deaf community. For example, did you know that an estimated 1.5 billion people live with hearing loss? That’s about 20% of the world’s population!

As a brand, this is an important fact to keep in mind. Would you really want to cut off that many people from being able to learn about your brand’s message?

From captioning your videos to providing real-time transcripts of meetings and webinars, taking steps to ensure total accessibility isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s also a strategic move to increase brand engagement. If your content isn’t accessible, you’re alienating people who could potentially fall in love with your product or service.

Add Rev to Your Accessibility Toolkit

You can increase accessibility efforts in your content marketing by adding features like transcripts, subtitles, and audio descriptions to your content. And we can help! Our lightning-fast, world-class captioning and transcription services can easily make your content accessible to all.

See how we can help caption your content today.