List of deaf people

This is an incomplete list of notable deaf people.

Important historical figures in deaf history and culture

Teresa de Cartagena, 15th Century Spanish nun who had become deaf, was exceptional in her time in confronting her disability and gaining fame as a religious writer (and is nowadays reckoned as one of the earliest feminist writers).

The idea that a person who was deaf could achieve a notable or distinguished status was not common until the latter half of the 18th century, when Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée founded the world's first public school for deaf students in Paris. The Abbe de l'Épée was one of the first advocates for using sign language in deaf education, as a means to raise deaf people to literacy and to provide an avenue to an independent lifestyle. Prior to de l'Épée, only the deaf children of royal, aristocratic or wealthy families were afforded any type of education.

Épée originally favored using a fabricated sign system, similar to Signed Exact English, based on French grammar and sound. The local Deaf communities insisted on maintaining their own Paris sign language, and on his deathbed de l'Épée wrote his final work decrying all constructed systems and finally endorsing the use of the natural signed languages made by Deaf people.

The success of the Paris school spawned similar schools throughout Europe and the New World. Significant in American history, deaf Frenchman Laurent Clerc, both a student and teacher at the Paris school (1798–1816), and Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a hearing American, founded the first school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut in 1816. Clerc, along with Paris school faculty members Jean Massieu and Ferdinand Berthier formed the core of a group of pioneering deaf intellectuals. They are joined by many people on this list who, like them, were born deaf, used a sign language as their mother language, and were notable for their leadership and accomplishments.

• Ferdinand Berthier, French intellectual, published several articles, first deaf person to receive the French Legion of Honor, founder of world's first deaf organization
• Julia Brace (1807–1884), early American deaf-blind student at the Hartford School for the Deaf
• John Brewster Jr. (1766–1854), American, itinerant artist of the Federalist Period in America
• Laura Bridgman, (1829–1889), American, first deaf-blind student of Dr. Samuel Howe at the Perkins School for the Blind
• Laurent Clerc (1785–1869), French-American, co-founder of first school for the deaf in America, first deaf teacher of the deaf in America
• Pierre Desloges (1742-??), French deaf writer and bookbinder, first known deaf person to publish a book
• William Elsworth "Dummy" Hoy (1862–1961), American baseball player
• Helen Keller, American deaf-blind writer, lecturer, and actor
• Granville Redmond, American painter
• Douglas Tilden, American sculptor
• Will J. Quinlan, American Artist, etcher, painter
• Gideon Moore, the first Deaf people to obtain a doctorate degree (1869)

Notable Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs)

• Alexander Graham Bell, whose mother, Eliza Grace Symonds Bell, was hard of hearing, and whose wife, Mabel Hubbard, became deaf at age 5
• Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor raised by deaf parents, whose upbringing allowed him to communicate better in silent films
• Kambri Crews, American comedic storyteller and writer who incorporates sign language in performances and whose maternal grandparents are also deaf
• Lou Fant, American actor; sign language coach for Children of a Lesser God
• Louise Fletcher, American Academy Award-winning actress for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• Edward Miner Gallaudet, founder of Gallaudet University, son of Sophia Fowler Gallaudet and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, founder of the American School for the Deaf, the first school for the deaf in the U.S.
• Richard Griffiths, English actor
• Stefan LeFors, Canadian football quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• Homer Thornberry, United States Representative from the 10th congressional district of Texas from 1948 to 1963
• Jim Verraros, American Idol finalist, season 1
• Keith Wann, performer in a deaf comedic troupe, Iceworm, showcasing cultural and linguistic barriers between the deaf and hearing worlds

Notable deaf people

• Linda Bove, actress
• Deanne Bray, actress who played the lead role on Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye
• Oreste Carpi, Italian painter (1921–2008)
• Robert R. Davila, ninth president of Gallaudet University
• Ashley Fiolek, FWA Motocross Champion
• Phyllis Frelich, Tony Award winner for her role in the stage production of Children of a Lesser God
• Matt Hamill, MMA fighter
• Marlee Matlin, first deaf woman to win an Academy Award (Best Actress) for her role in Children of a Lesser God
• Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw, (b. 1912) British mathematician and politician
• Sean Berdy, actor
• Slava Raškaj (1877–1906) Croatian painter
• Shoshannah Stern, actress in Jericho and Weeds
• Sue Thomas, became the first deaf person to work as an undercover investigator doing lip-reading of suspects for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
• Heather Whitestone, first Deaf woman to win the title of Miss America
• Signmark as Marko Vuoriheimo, Deaf Finnish Rap Artist

Notable people with a hearing loss

• Lance Allred, American basketball player, first deaf/hearing-impaired person to play in the NBA
• Guillaume Amontons, French inventor and physicist
• Cliff Bastin, British footballer
• Luis Buñuel, Spanish surrealist filmmaker and poet
• Gertrude Ederle, American competitive swimmer, first woman to swim the English Channel
• Thomas Edison, American inventor
• Lou Ferrigno, American actor and bodybuilder
• Walter Geikie, Scottish painter
• Francisco Goya, Spanish painter
• Oliver Heaviside, British engineer, mathematician and physicist
• Georgia Horsley, Miss England 2007 and contestant in Miss World 2007
• I. King Jordan, the first president of Gallaudet University with a profound hearing loss
• Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America
• Rob Lowe, American actor, completely deaf in right ear
• Henrietta Leavitt, American astronomer
• Harold MacGrath, American author
• Sir William McMahon, Australian politician and Prime Minister
• Pierre de Ronsard, French poet
• R. N. Taber, English poet
• Judith Wright, Australian poet
• Miha Zupan, Slovenian basketball player, first deaf/hearing-impaired person to play in the Euroleague
• Halle Berry, American Actress, acquired unilateral hearing loss

Musicians with impaired hearing

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Famous non-deaf musician
• Mandy Harvey, American Jazz singer
• Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer
• William Boyce, British composer
• Rudi Carrell, Dutch popular singer
• Gabriel Fauré, French composer
• Johnnie Ray, American popular singer
• Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer
• Pete Townshend, British lead guitarist and songwriter with The Who
• Evelyn Glennie, Scottish percussionist
• Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese popular singer and songwriter
• Ryan Adams, American alternative country artist
• George Martin, English bandleader and producer of The Beatles
• Foxy Brown, American rap artist
• Brian Wilson, American musician and songwriter with The Beach Boys
• Danny Elfman, film score composer and former member of Oingo Boingo
• Lars Ulrich, Danish drummer in Metallica
• Kyo, Vocalist of Dir en grey
• Charles Mokotoff Classical Guitarist