In the 1990s, deaf actors and actresses began to move beyond guest appearances into more fully developed character roles. The decade belonged to Marlee Matlin, who made history with her recurring roles on Picket Fences and The West Wing, and her starring role on Reasonable Doubts. Matlin also had guest appearances on numerous programs such as Seinfeld (1993), The Outer Limits (1995), The Larry Sanders Show (1997), Spin City (1997), and so did many other deaf actors:
- Inspector Morse (British show)/"Driven to Distraction" (January 1990) - deaf salesman (Steve Shill)
- The Bill (British)/"Watch My Lips" (July 1990) - deaf suspect
- The Young Riders/"Blood Moon" (October 1990) - deaf boy at risk of being lynched
- A Different World/"A Word in Edgewise" (February 1991) - National Theatre of the Deaf (C.J. Jones, Bobbie Beth Scoggins)
- Hunter/"Cries of Silence"(March 1991) - deaf mother's daughter runs away (Phyllis Frelich)
- Quantum Leap/"Private Dancer" (March 1991) - deaf dancer (Rhondee Beriault?)
- Baywatch/"Big Monday"(Feburary 1992) - deaf character (Aimee Walker) befriends orangutan
- A Country Practice. (Australia)/"A Different Drum" (March 1992) - deaf boy
- Beverly Hills, 90210/"Too Little Too Late/Paris" (July 1992) - deaf boy (Darrell Utley) at a camp
- Doogie Howser, M.D./"Doogie, Can You Hear Me"(November 1992) - hearing impaired patient (Terrylene)
- Time Trax/"Little Boy Lost" (May 1993) - "deaf and mute" boy
- Law and Order/"Benevolence"(May 1993) - deaf students questioned when deaf girl is murdered
- Power Rangers/"Different Drum" (September 1993) - deaf friend
- Are You Afraid of the Dark/"Tale of the Closet Keepers" (January 1995) - deaf girl is captured.
- Outer Limits/"The Message" (July 1995) - deaf woman helps aliens (Marlee Matlin)(Listing provided by an About visitor)
- E.R./"Days Like This" (November 1995) - deaf girl (Marlo Lovitch)
- John Larroquette Show/"John's Lucky Day" (January 1996) - deaf couple (Vikee Waltrip, David Freeman)
- Hetty Wainthrop Investigates (British)/"Eye Witness" (January 1996) - deaf crime witness
- Father Ted (British)/"Rock-a-hula Ted" (April 1996) - deaf character
- High Incident/"Women and Children First"(April 1996) - deaf brother and sister (Alan Schwartz, Jennifer Delora)
- Ellen/"Ellen's Deaf Comedy Jam" (February 1997) deaf group (Deanne Bray, Anthony Natale)
- Murder, Country Style, (February 1997)- Deanne Bray
- 7th Heaven (May 1997) - Andrea Ferrell in recurring role of a deaf girlfriend
- Earth: Final Conflict/"Through the Looking Glass" (April 1998) - young deaf boy reappears after disappearing, with an implant. (This may have been one of the first times cochlear implants appeared on television)
- Touched by an Angel/"The Lady of the Lake" (October 1998) - deaf woman (Kathy Buckley) tries to save a community
- BayWatch/"Friends Forever, November 1998, " had Marlo Lovitch as a young deaf Special Olympian
- Pacific Blue/"Broken Dreams"(December 1998) - deaf group appears (Terrylene, Anthony Natale, John Maucere, Emily Macedo, Erika Dickson, Darrell Utley, Phyllis Frelich)
- The Tribe (Britain/New Zealand) (April to June 1999) - deaf boy (Zachary Best)
- Diagnosis Murder/"Today is the last day of the rest of my life"(May 1999) - deaf woman wants to die (Phyllis Frelich)
- The HBO program Sex and the City/"They shoot single people don't they" episode June 1999 had a deaf character
- Sports Night/"Louise Revisited, October 1999, " one of the characters has a deaf sister
- Walker, Texas Ranger/"Suspicious Minds," November 1999: Rebecca Lovitch was a young deaf girl
On the popular show ER, a deaf child (Matthew Watkins) with a recurring role was introduced as the son of one of the main characters in a sequence that included guest appearances by Marlee Matlin, Phyllis Frelich, and Terrylene.
More: Deaf People on Television 1950s to Modern Times
Sources:
IMDB.com, Epguides.com, and TV.com were the sources for much of this material.
