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10 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were Deaf

10 Famous People You Didn’t Know Were Deaf

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Everyone becomes famous had to overcome obstacles. For the people listed here, obstacles included the physical disability of being deaf and having to bring a translator to meetings where everyone didn’t speak American Sign Language. Here are 10 famous people you didn’t know were deaf.

famousdude.com
famousdude.com

 

Shelley Beattie

Shelley Beattie was a professional female bodybuilder and actress who reached one of the top three in the Ms. Olympia contest. As the result of an aspirin overdose during childhood, Beattie lost her hearing when she was just 3 years old.

Source: Wikipedia.org 

mlb.com
mlb.com

Curtis Pride

Curtis Pride is a former Major League Baseball player who played for the New York Mets and the Montreal Expos. Pride was born deaf but that didn’t stop him from having an amazing baseball career. Today he coaches at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.

Source: Bleacherreport.com

wikipedia.org
wikipedia.org

Gertrude Ederle

Gertrude Ederle was an Olympic swimmer and the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926, a trip that would result in her losing her hearing. Ederle already suffered from poor hearing as a young girl.

Source: Biography.com 

thenhlarena.com
thenhlarena.com

Jim Kyte

Jim Kyte is a Canadian former National Hockey League player and he was the first legally deaf person to play for the NHL. Kyte was born with perfect hearing, but suffered from a hereditary condition that eventually made him go deaf.

Source: Wikipedia.org

womenshealthmag.com
womenshealthmag.com

Katie Leclerc

Katie Leclerc is an actress best known for her role on “Veronica Mars.” Leclerc suffers from Ménière’s disease, which causes deafness.

Source: Womenshealthmag.com 

pinterest.com
pinterest.com

Heather Whitestone

Heather Whitestone was the winner of Miss America in 1995 and the first deaf woman to ever win the title. Whitestone lost her hearing when she was 18 months old and since she was a little girl, looked up to Helen Keller as a role model.

Source: Start-american-sign-language.com

start-american-sign-language.com
start-american-sign-language.com

William Ellsworth “Dummy” Hoy

William Ellsworth “Dummy” Hoy was an American Major League Baseball player who played centerfield for the Cincinnati Reds along with several other teams. Some credit Hoy with starting the use of safe and out calls. Hoy lost his hearing at the age of 3 after having meningitis.

Source: Wikipedia.org 

fanpop.com
fanpop.com

Sean Berdy

Sean Berdy is currently acting on the ABC show “Switched at Birth” and also appeared in “The Sandlot 2.” Berdy was born deaf into family with deaf parents and a deaf brother.

Source: Deafness.about.com

wright-brothers.org
wright-brothers.org

Calbraith Perry Rodgers

Calbraith Perry Rodgers was an American aviation pioneer who made the first transcontinental flight across the U.S. in 1911. Rodgers suffered from scarlet fever as a child, which left him deaf in one ear and hearing impaired in the other.

Source: Wikipedia.org

biography.com
biography.com

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison is the American inventor who gave us the electric light bulb and motion picture camera. Due to having scarlet fever as a child, and allegedly a blow to the head, Edison’s hearing was greatly impaired. The inventor described himself as deaf.

Source: U-S-history.com