List of deaf people
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2015) |
This is an incomplete list of notable deaf people.
Important deaf figures in deaf history
- Chuck Baird, (1947–2012) American painter and performer, one of the founding members of the De'Via Deaf art movement
- Casar Jacobson, Norwegian-Canadian first ever deaf winner of Miss Canada (2013).
- Ferdinand Berthier, French intellectual, published several articles, first deaf person to receive the French Legion of Honour, 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
- Teresa de Cartagena, Spanish conversa nun and mystic author of the 15th century who became deaf in later life. The first mystic author in Spanish.
- Laurent Clerc (1785–1869), student and teacher (1798–1816) at the Paris deaf school of the Abbé de l'Épée ; accompanied Thomas Gallaudet to America to teach deaf children. Co-founded the first deaf school in North America in 1817 in Hartford, Connecticut.
- Pierre Desloges (1742–?), French deaf writer and bookbinder, first known deaf person to publish a book
- Andrew Foster, (1925–1987), American educator, first Black deaf person to earn a bachelor's degree from Gallaudet College, Christian missionary to Africa
- William Elsworth "Dummy" Hoy (1862–1961), American baseball player
- I. King Jordan, first deaf president (eighth overall) of Gallaudet University
- Helen Keller, American deaf-blind writer, lecturer, and actress
- Alice Cogswell, first deaf student at American School for the Deaf
Notable deaf people
- Dimitra Arapoglou, deaf member of Greek parliament, from 2007-2009
- Sean Berdy, actor and comedian
- Linda Bove, actress, known particularly for the role of Linda the Librarian on the children's television program Sesame Street
- Bernard Bragg, performer, writer, director, poet, and artist
- Deanne Bray, actress who played the lead role on Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye
- Oreste Carpi, Italian painter
- Michael Chorost, writer
- Willy Conley, playwright, actor, photographer
- Robert R. Davila, ninth president of Gallaudet University
- Nyle DiMarco, model and 2015 winner of America's Next Top Model
- Izrael Zachariah Deutsch, deaf Jew who wrote a memoir about surviving the Holocaust
- Thomas Edison, American inventor
- Aryana Engineer, actress
- Ashley Fiolek, 4-time Women's Motocross Champion
- Phyllis Frelich, Tony Award winner for her role in the stage production of Children of a Lesser God
- Claudia L. Gordon, lawyer
- Matt Hamill, MMA fighter
- Russell Harvard, actor
- T. Alan Hurwitz, tenth president of Gallaudet University and former Vice President of National Technical Institute for the Deaf
- Alan Kilby, United Kingdom professional wrestler
- Jim Kyte (b. 1964), first (and to date, only) deaf person to play in the National Hockey League
- Ryan Lane, actor and model
- Rush Limbaugh, American conservative radio talk show host
- Fernanda Machado Brazilian artist, actress and deaf poet
- Mojo Mathers (b. 1966), New Zealand politician
- Marlee Matlin, only deaf person to win an Academy Award (Best Actress) for her role in Children of a Lesser God
- Caleb McDuff racing driver
- Dorothy Miles, deaf poet and activist
- Betty G. Miller, American artist
- Lawrence R. Newman, deaf educator and activist, and served two terms as President of the National Association of the Deaf
- Michael Ndurumo, deaf educator from Kenya, third deaf person from Africa to obtain a Ph.D.
- Roger Demosthenes O'Kelly, (b. 1880) deaf blind black lawyer, Yale alumnus
- Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw, (b. 1912) British mathematician and politician
- Andrew Phillips, lawyer
- Marie Jean Philip, teacher and leading international advocate for the right to sign language
- Will J. Quinlan, American Artist, etcher, painter
- Granville Redmond, American painter
- Terrylene Sacchetti, actress
- Signmark, Finnish rap artist
- Slava Raškaj (1877–1906), Croatian painter
- Howie Seago, actor and director
- The Silent Warrior, American professional wrestler and founder of the Deaf Wrestling Alliance.
- Elizabeth Steel, earliest record of a deaf Australian
- Louise Stern, writer and artist
- Kathleen Brockway, writer
- Shoshannah Stern, actress in Jericho and Weeds
- Ted Supalla, researcher and professor
- Mariko Takamura, deaf Japanese musician
- Sue Thomas, first deaf person to work as an undercover investigator doing lip-reading of suspects for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- Douglas Tilden, American sculptor
- Clayton Valli, deaf linguist and ASL poet
- George Veditz, former president of the National Association of the Deaf, and one of the first people to film sign language
- Heather Whitestone, first deaf woman to win the title of Miss America
- David Wright, South African-born British poet
- Miha Zupan, Slovenian basketball player, first deaf person to play in the Euroleague
Notable people who are hard of hearing
- Lance Allred, American basketball player, first deaf person to play in the NBA
- Guillaume Amontons, French inventor and physicist
- Cliff Bastin, British footballer
- Halle Berry, American actress, acquired unilateral hearing loss
- Luis Buñuel, Spanish surrealist filmmaker and poet
- Bill Clinton, former President of the United States
- Gertrude Ederle, American competitive swimmer, first woman to swim the English Channel
- 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
- Holly Hunter, American actress, completely deaf in one ear
- Katie Leclerc, American actress, known especially for her leading role in Switched at Birth
- Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA
- 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
- Adam Savage, American science educator
- R. N. Taber, English poet
- Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian rocket scientist and pioneer of space exploration studies
- Judith Wright, Australian poet
Deaf and hard of hearing musicians
- Mandy Harvey, American jazz singer
- Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer
- Sean Forbes, American musician, songwriter, and rapper
- 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
- Evelyn Glennie, Scottish percussionist
- Ayumi Hamasaki, Japanese popular singer and songwriter
- Ryan Adams, American alternative country artist
- George Martin, English bandleader and producer
- Foxy Brown, American rap artist
- Brian Wilson, American musician and songwriter
- Danny Elfman, film score composer and former member of Oingo Boingo
- Lars Ulrich, Danish drummer[1]
- Kyo, singer of Dir En Grey
- Mabel Hubbard Bell, wife of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell
- TL Forsberg, American avant-garde rock singer
- Bob Hiltermann, drummer for Beethoven's Nightmare, an all-deaf rock band
- Steve_Longo, guitarist for Beethoven's Nightmare, an all-deaf rock band
- Ed_Chevy, bassist for Beethoven's Nightmare, an all-deaf rock band