Hearing loss affects one in five people in the U.S., so it’s not surprising that many famous people live with hearing loss. Just like individuals in the general population, celebrities may choose to keep their hearing loss private. However, some people in the spotlight embrace hearing loss as part of their public persona. Here are a couple of celebrities who’s hearing loss has contributed to their success:
Brian Kerwin
Actor Brian Kerwin has appeared as a recurring character on several TV shows, has had many guest appearances and has several feature films under his belt. But on a recent episode of the cop drama “Blue Bloods,” Kerwin appeared as a guest star, and did something he hasn’t been able to do before: He wore his real-life hearing aids, and they weren’t a plot element. In fact, nothing about the character’s hearing loss was mentioned at all, which, Kerwin said in a recent interview, thrilled him.
Kerwin also said that he’s proud of his hearing aids and wants other people to feel the same way, because having something in your ear isn’t really that uncommon:
“We’re living in [an] age when so many people have so many things in their ears all the time,” he said. “It shouldn’t be seen as that strange.”
Lou Ferrigno
The bodybuilder-turned-actor who brought Marvel’s “The Incredible Hulk” to life in a TV series from 1978 through 1982 has had profound hearing loss since he was a child. Lou Ferrigno had ear infections early on that destroyed 75 to 80 percent of his hearing. He has been wearing hearing aids since the age of five, but he received a cochlear implant in May 2012.
In a 2005 interview with Audiology Online, Ferrigno said that his profound hearing loss hasn’t held him back at all:
“If I wasn’t hard of hearing I wouldn’t be where I am now!” he said. “I think my hearing loss helped create a determination within me to be all I can be, and gave me a certain strength of character, too.”
Marlee Matlin
This famous actress won a Academy Award for Best Leading Actress for her role in “Children of a Lesser God” when she was only 21 years old. Matlin both signs and speaks. She has a recurring role on the show “Switched at Birth.” Recently, for the first time in TV history, an entire episode of the show was done in sign language.
After a tough childhood, Matlin said in a 2009 After Ellen interview that she won’t remain quiet about injustices she sees for those with hearing loss and other groups:
“As I’ve always said, ‘Silence is the last thing the world will ever hear from me,'” Matlin said.
