Items14The creator’s order
  1. 1Marlee MatlinMarlee MatlinBorn 24 Aug 1965Marlee Matlin, the first Deaf performer to win an Academy Award, for Children of a Lesser God in 1987, testified before Congress in support of the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990, which required new American televisions to display closed captions. That law changed daily life for millions…0i
  2. 2Stevie WonderStevie WonderStevie Wonder, blind since infancy, was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2009 with a focus on disability, and lobbied for the Marrakesh Treaty of 2013, which makes it easier to produce and share books in braille and other accessible formats across borders. At the 2016 Grammys he read…0i
  3. 3Rose Ayling-EllisRose Ayling-EllisBorn 17 Nov 1994Rose Ayling-Ellis, the first Deaf contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, won it in 2021 with Giovanni Pernice, and their routine with a moment of complete silence became one of the show's most celebrated. Her profile helped the campaign behind the British Sign Language Act 2022, which recognised BSL…0i
  4. 4Troy KotsurTroy KotsurBorn 24 Jul 1968Troy Kotsur spent years with Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles, which stages productions in American Sign Language and spoken English simultaneously, before CODA made him the first Deaf man to win an acting Oscar in 2022. He gave his acceptance speech in ASL. His career shows how a Deaf-led company…0i
  5. 5Ali StrokerAli StrokerBorn 16 Jun 1987Ali Stroker became the first wheelchair user to perform on Broadway in Deaf West's 2015 revival of Spring Awakening, and the first to win a Tony, for Oklahoma! in 2019. She speaks often about the inaccessible backstage spaces she has had to navigate and has pushed theatres to fix them. Her Tony…0i
  6. 6Nyle DiMarcoNyle DiMarcoBorn 8 May 1989Nyle DiMarco won America's Next Top Model in 2015 and Dancing with the Stars in 2016, then used the attention to start the Nyle DiMarco Foundation, which campaigns for Deaf children to have early access to sign language. He executive-produced the Netflix series Deaf U, made with Deaf students at…0i
  7. 7Evelyn GlennieEvelyn GlennieBorn 19 Jul 1965Evelyn Glennie, profoundly deaf since the age of twelve, became the world's first full-time solo percussionist and often performs barefoot to feel vibrations through the floor. She has written and spoken widely about how deaf people experience sound, and her Teach the World to Listen work promotes…0i
  8. 8Warwick DavisWarwick DavisBorn 3 Feb 1970Warwick Davis co-founded Willow Management in 1995, a talent agency representing short actors, and in 2012 co-founded the charity Little People UK with his wife, Samantha, to support people with dwarfism and their families. The agency was a practical answer to typecasting, finding work beyond…0i
  9. 9Maysoon ZayidMaysoon ZayidMaysoon Zayid, a comedian with cerebral palsy, gave one of the most-watched TED talks of 2014, using sharp jokes to argue that disabled people are missing from screen stories. She co-founded the New York Arab American Comedy Festival in 2003 and has consulted on disabled representation in…0i
  10. 10Rosie JonesRosie JonesBorn 24 Jun 1990Rosie Jones, a comedian with cerebral palsy, has made accessibility a running thread of her television work, most directly in her Channel 4 travel series Trip Hazard, which tests how easy Britain's attractions really are for disabled visitors. She has also reported for Channel 4's Paralympics…0i