Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

== Film ==

* In ''[[I Am Sam]]'', Sean Penn, of course, is not really developmentally disabled—but many of the actors who play his housemates ''are''.

* An in-universe example: In the novel ''[[Dream Park]]'' by [[Larry Niven]], Jerry Pournelle, and Stephen Barnes, during the course of an amazingly elaborate Live Action Roleplaying Game that utilizes high-tech special effects, the players encounter (among other things) a one-armed, one-legged zombie played by a one-legged, one-armed actress. The fact that she's real and not a special effect (most of the zombies are holographic) shocks one of the players into inaction enough to allow the amputee zombie to "kill" her.

 

* Clark Middleton, whose struggle with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis retarded his growth and prevents him from having full range of motion, spent two years on ''[[Law and Order]]'' as Doctor Ellis, one of the show's Medical Examiners. Ellis's lab has access ramps, lower counters and examination tables, and is built to "little person" scale, something once remarked upon by Lennie Briscoe. Most of Middleton's other roles, however, were characters who just ''happened'' to be disabled.

* Geri Jewell, who played Jewel on ''[[Deadwood]]'' and [[The Danza|Geri]] on ''[[The Facts of Life]]'', actually has cerebral palsy.

* Grandma Esther Walton was depicted as suffering a stroke on ''[[The Waltons]]'', [[Real Life Writes the Plot|after Ellen Corby, the actress who played her, suffered one in 1976.]]

* During the fourth season of ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]'', Captain Deakins suffered through a bout of Bell's Palsy and was forced to wear an eyepatch for several episodes. This was because the actor playing Deakins, Jamey Sheridan, was actually suffering through a bout of Bell's palsy and was forced to wear an eyepatch.

* ''[[Breaking Bad]]'': RJ Mitte has mild cerebral palsy in real life. Walt Jr. was conceived from the start as having it, and Mitte had to learn to walk with crutches and speak ''less'' clearly to portray the level of affectation that the show's creator had in mind.

* Robert David Hall, who lost his legs in 1978 when an 18-wheeler crushed his car, plays Dr. Al Robbins on ''[[CSI]]''. His character's legs were lost when he was hit by a drunk driver; both Hall and Robbins walk using prosthetics and a cane.