Stephanie Beacham's 60 second interview
Actress Stephanie Beacham - famed for her role in the 80s smash Dynasty and recent parts in Bad Girls and Coronation Street, spoke to Metro this week about her hearing impairment.
Stephanie, who is supporting The Sound Barrier Stars Awards in association with Specsavers and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, has 80 percent hearing in her left ear and no hearing in her right. She joked that she 'nearly gets run over on a daily basis, and is cross with people when they are on her right-hand side.'
In the newspaper's '60 second interview', the 62 year-old actress explains that she went to Paris when she was a girl to study mime, so that she could teach deaf children. 'I was fed up with deaf people being portrayed as inelegant, clumsy and stupid', she said.
Studying drama at RADA, Stephanie didn't tell anyone that she was deaf when she first started; "I went there on a scholarship and, at the end of the first year I came top in everything. Then I told RADA I was deaf and asked them to send me to a specialist. I made sure they knew I was worth it."
Stephanie was once quoted as saying, 'As far as my work is concerned, I see no impediment, and various advantages, to being deaf.'
Comments
ellow mellow's i am parshly deaf in both ears and two of my children are too,it's only now that i have desided that it's right to start signing,i've got my boys and other half doing it too,i feel that if every school did a sign language lesson even if it was once a week it would be a great help,that way there would be no language barrier and we would all be able to comunicate with anyone you wanted to, not just deaf people.
Posted by: teresa | July 12, 2009 03:24 PM
I saw your interview on the One Show and have been tying to find out where I can get a hearing aid like yours. I am 71 yrs old and as the hearing in my 'good' ear gets worse I want to improve my communication.
Hope you can help and thanks for what you are doing for deaf people.
Posted by: Brenda Davison | August 25, 2009 10:20 PM