THE RACING GAME/YTV/1979 (Injured Hand)
*(Mike Gwilym) Sid Halley, a champion jockey destroys his left hand
in an accident and discovers a new career as a detective
specializing in the world of English horse racing. He struggles to
learn a new career, helped by a friend and martial-arts expert,
Pancho Burns.
SABER OF LONDON/NBC/1957-60 (Injured Arm)
*(Donald Gray, a.k.a. "Eldred Tidbury") Mark Saber, a one-armed
former chief Inspector of Scotland Yard turned private detective.
The original Mark Saber (Tom Conway), a dapper police detective with
a British accent, worked for a large American city homicide squad on
MARK SABER/ABC/1951-54. When the character was resurrected, on a
series variously called THE VISE, SABER OF LONDON and DETECTIVE'S
DIARY run on ABC & NBC from 1955-60, our English copper was suddenly
transformed into a one-armed private detective based in London who
chased crooks throughout the streets of Europe. Donald Gray (who
died in 1978) lost his left arm during the invasion of Normandy. He
was proficient in Judo and reportedly once caused a riot in a BBC
studio when he blew a kiss to his female fans.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE/NBC/1975+ (Born Without a Spine)
** Mr. Loopner, the father of Lisa Loopner (Gilda Radner) as
mentioned in the "Nerds" sketches seen on the program in the 1970s.
On the sketch "Nerds Go to the Prom" (aired May 20, 1978) Marshall
DiLaBounta (Buck Henry), the father of Lisa Loopner's boyfriend Todd
(Bill Murray) is talking with Lisa's mother Ined (Jane Curtain) as
the two kids get ready to go to the prom. While chit-chatting in the
Loopner's living room Marshall asked about Ined's dead husband. An
excerpt from the dialogue follows:
|
Ined: |
You know Marshall, as a single
mother I've had to be both mother and father to Lisa.
|
|
Todd: |
And you've done a terrific job,
Mrs. Loopner. |
|
Marshall: |
Uhh...Ined, I hope this isn't
indelicate [picks his nose] but, how did Mr. Loopner pass
away? |
|
Ined: |
He was born without a spine. It
was always just a matter of time. |
|
Marshall: |
And, and what exactly did he do
for a living? |
|
Ined: |
Oh, didn't you know? He invented
the slinky. |
|
Lisa: |
Yeah, unfortunately he didn't call
it the slinky and he didn't patent it. But he sued the slinky
people for 5 million dollars, and he lost. |
THE SIMPSONS/FOX/1989+ (Brass Knee & Steel Hip)
**(Cartoon character) Grandpa Abe Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta),
the father of nuclear power plant worker Homer Simpson. Abe now
lives at the Springfield Retirement Home. On episode "Natural Born
Kissers" Abe's grandchildren Bart and Lisa borrow his metal
detector. Bart turns on the detector and points it at Abe's body. It
detects a brass knee and a steel hip ("That one's new to me!" says
Abe).
SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN/ABC/1974-78 (Injured Arm, Legs, Eye)
*(Lee Majors) Colonel Steve Austin, USA Astronaut badly injured in
the crash of an experimental moon-landing craft in the California
desert. His shattered body was reconstructed with bionic parts which
included a powerful right arm, two mechanical legs which enabled him
to run faster than a car and a left eye which transcended normal
vision. The price of his operation-six million dollars. Steve used
his new found powers by working as a spy for the OSI (Office of
Scientific Information). See also "The
Bionic Woman"
SON OF THE BEACH/FX/2000-2001 (Crippled)
**(Robert Steven Ryan) Professor Milosevic, an evil wheelchair bound
ex-lifeguard who was injured in a terrible boating accident
involving his friend Notch "Ride the Big One" Johnson and a lot of
sun-screen. The Professor was introduced on episode No. 6 "Fanny and
the Professor" when the Professor seeks revenge on Notch by getting
him fired and replaced by a bevy of female robot lifeguards. The
Professor has since become a recurring character on the show. He
communicates through a keyboard and voice-box mounted on the front
of his wheel chair (an apparent spoof of brilliant but
wheelchair-bound physicist Stephen J. Hawkins). On episode No. 27
"Area 69" muscle-bound German lifeguard Chip Rommel (Roland
Kickinger) and Professor Milosevic enter a local talent contest and
are signed by a TV network executive to star in an 'Odd Couple' type
situation comedy. This particular episode is outrageous in that Chip
in his TV role continually abuses the Professor by stuffing things
into his mouth, pouring things on his head or banging the
professor's head with a board as he keeps moving about the room
(among other extremely slapstick by abusive stunts).
SOPRANOS/HBO/1999-2007 (Missing one Leg)
**(Alla Kliouka Schaffer) Svetlana Kirilenko, Livia Soprano's
one-legged Russian nurse. Before Livia died, she bequeathed her
record collection to Svetlana. At the funeral, Livia's daughter,
Janice Soprano (called "a cow") insisted the records were hers.
Svetlana disagreed, so in retribution, Janice stole Svetlana's
prosthetic leg while she slept. Angry, Svetlana asked two friends in
the Russian mob to break Janice's ribs. Even with her prosthetic
leg, Svetlana walked awkwardly. She also smoked too much.
SPECIAL UNIT 2/UPN/2001-02 (Missing Hand)
**(Richard Gant) Captain Richard Page, a no-nonsense black veteran
cop with a missing hand who leads a secret division of the Chicago
Police Department known as Special Unit 2. The Captain's prosthetic
hand was once stolen by Carl the Gnome, who later came to work for
SU2.
STAR TREK/NBC/1966-69 (Injured hand)
**(James Doohan) James Doohan played Montgomery 'Scotty" Scott,
chief engineer on the starship USS Enterprise. At age 19, James
Doohan joined the Canadian army just as World War II was breaking
out. While wading ashore on D-Day, artillery officer Lt. Doohan lost
the middle finger of his right hand to machine-gun fire. Five weeks
later he volunteered as pilot for reconnaissance duty where he
earned the moniker "The Craziest Pilot in the Canadian Air Force."
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE/SYN/1993-99 (Amputated Leg)
**(Aron Eisenberg) Nog, a Ferengi officer stationed onboard the
space station Deep Space Nine. During the 1998 season, Nog was
injured in battle and his leg was amputated. After some brooding
over the lose of his limb, he returned to active duty wearing an
artificial replacement.
TATE/NBC/1960 (Injured Arm)
*(David McLean) Tate, a one-armed gunfighter who roamed the American
frontier of the 1870s. Tate was a casualty of the Civil War (The
Battle of Vicksburg in May 1863). He lost the use of his left arm
when an explosion shattered it. Finding it difficult to obtain work,
Tate became a drifter/gunfighter. His left arm was encased in a
sheath of black leather stitched up with rawhide lacing that ran
from his fingers to his elbow. His right gun arm was lightning swift
and could "shoot five times without reloading."
T. J. HOOKER/ABC/CBS/1982-87 (Crippled)
**(Hugh Farrington) Pete O'Brien, tough, cigar-chewing police
detective who was confined to a wheelchair. In reality, Hugh
Farrington was injured in an airplane accident in the 1960s when as
a passenger in his friend's plane, they hit an electric high wire
and crashed. He lay in a coma for three months (his spinal column
was damaged). An ex-Navy pilot, Farrington still flew regularly in
his Piper Saratoga, a specially hand-controlled airplane kept at
Gillespie Field in San Diego.
THREE STOOGES FILMS (Crippled Foot & Disabled Hand)
*(Jerome “Babe” Howard) Curly, the bald-headed zany character who
made up a third of the Three Stooges comedy act. Early in his life
Curly was accidentally shot in the ankle. When the injury never quit
healed properly, Curly walked with an exaggerated gate which he then
utilized for comedy effect in his many film shorts. Larry Fine,
another of the Stooges was also injured in childhood. Just as Larry
was inadvertently going to drink from a bottle that contained acid,
his father knocked the bottle from Larry’s hand which caused burning
on his hands. Larry later took violin lessons as therapy designed to
loosen up and stretch the injured arm. Larry incorporated the violin
into his vaudeville act.
TWIN PEAKS/ABC/1990-91 (Injured Eye & Missing Arm)
**(Wendy Robie) Nadine Hurley, a red-haired woman with a black eye
patch over her left eye who lived in the strange Northwest town of
Twin Peaks. Nadine failed an attempt at suicide and later, losing
touch with reality, began to believe she was back in high school.
There was also a one-armed man named Phillip Michael "Mike" Gerard
played by Al Strobel. See also
NICKNAMES: "The Log
Lady"
VIPER/NBC/1994 (Crippled)
*(Dorian Harewood) Julian Wilkes, a brilliant black scientist
confined to a wheelchair who designed Viper, a high-tech pursuit
vehicle built to fight crime in the world of the near future.
WAR OF THE WORLDS/SYN/1988-90 (Crippled)
**(Philip Akin) Norton Drake, a black computer genius in a
wheelchair who battled the menace of alien invaders from outer
space. Drake nicknamed his voice activated wheelchair "Gertrude."
Actor Philip Akin was not really crippled.
WISEGUY/CBS/1987-90 (Crippled)
**(Jim Byrnes) Daniel Benjamin Burroughs, (a.k.a. "Lifeguard"), a
physically challenged employee of the FBI's Organized Crime Bureau,
who was the phone contact for special agents working undercover with
the Mob. Sitting in his wheelchair, Lifeguard (a.k.a. "Uncle Mike")
assisted agents in the field by offering them emotional support and
by transmitting vital information to and from superiors. In real
life, Jim Brynes actually lost his legs in a car crash in 1972. He
was pushing a stalled truck on a highway in Canada when he was hit
from behind by a car. Nine months after the accident he was fitted
with prostheses and relearned to walk. He once said, "I'm physically
handicapped but I've gotten this job because I'm good at it
(acting), not because I'm handicapped." See also - "The Highlander"
THE X-FILES/FOX/1993-2002 (Missing Arm & Color-Blind)
**(Nicholas Lea) Alex Krycek, Soviet double agent working with C. G.
B. Spender, a.k.a. the Cigarette Man (William B. Davis), a
mysterious operative under orders from a shadowy organization called
The Syndicate. On the episode “Terma” Krycek lost his left arm
escaping villagers who tried to help him from being a test subject
at the Russian chain gang excavating rock from Tunguska, Russia.
Krycek is responsible for terminating both William Mulder, the
father of FBI agent Fox Mulder and Melissa Scully, the sister of FBI
agent Dana Scully. Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is red-green
colored blind as revealed in episode “Wetwired.” Cigarette Man’s
constant habit of smoking eventually gave him throat cancer. After
his surgery, he still smoked by placing a cigarette at the hole in
his throat.
YOUNG & THE RESTLESS/CBS/1973+ (Injured Leg)
**(Christopher "Chris" Templeton) Carol Robbins, a handicapped
female with a cane who lived in the fictional town of Genoa City.
Templeton (one of the first physically handicapped soap opera stars)
was partially crippled due to a case of childhood polio. From
1983-1993 - walking with a post-polio limp - Chris portrayed a
positive role model for the physically disabled. In 2001,
Christopher Templeton starred in the Gold Pictures production "Ready,
Willing and Able" as Samantha
"Sam" Martin, a CIA special agent who is determined to continue her
career after she is injured in the line of duty. Triumphing over her
physical limitations, Sam proves that she is READY WILLING AND ABLE
to eliminate a chemical weapons threat posed by global terrorists.
Templeton's other movie roles included the role of Diane St. Clair
in the TV movie Hostage for a Day (1994) and the role of Marian
Burke in the TV Movie Columbo: Butterfly in Shades of Grey (1994).
Christopher also made TV appearances on such TV shows as FRASIER,
HILL STREET BLUES and JAKE & THE FATMAN. Templeton walks about with
the aid of a cane and leg brace. See also - "Miss Susan"
ZOE, DUNCAN, JACK & JANE/WB/1999-2000 (Crippled)
**(Sara Rue) Breeny Kennedy, a wheelchair-bound teenager who lives
in New York City. She is a terror on the dodge-ball court.
A - D /
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L - Q / R - Z
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