From: Katarina Hjärpe
Date: Tuesday, 01 May 2001
Subject: "cripmovie"

Hi!
I read the site on movie characters in wheelchairs while I was browsing the net. (Actually looking for info for an "X-Men" slash story I'm writing, and found plenty of het stuff but nothing gay, but that's another story.) Since I have a very good friend with SCI -- her condition is called "ryggmärgsbråck" in Swedish, which should be something in the line of "spinal chord hernia" in English -- and who's aiming at being an actress, I've been noticing this sort of stuff since I was 13. (I'm 20 now.) Ever since she said "there are no people in wheelchairs on films" I've tried to find proofs of the opposite. She's very strict too: what kind of character? real or fake? et.c.

The only "real" person I've found so far, Reeves not included, was Andy Crowe, who played the quadroplegic Billy in the British TV series "Press Gang". The pity is, Billy's not a very good character. Although he doesn't immediately fit into any of the main clichés, he's largely seen as annoying by the fans. The point is, in this show, everybody is being made fun of, in a loving way, but Billy isn't. Oh, there are jokes *surrounding* him, as when Colin calls him Roger: "I'm Billy." "Oh, right, Roger was the one with a limp. Easy mistake." And yeah, that's funny. But the joke isn't actually on Billy, and in a show like this, the joke has to be on you, once in a while. Otherwise you're just the computer wiz with good ideas that 6 out of 12 voters want to kill off.

"Not real" shows a larger variety, even if I did despair for a while when Dorian Harewood's "Viper" guy (can't remember the character's name) seemed the best option. Nina (that's my friend) loved Bella in "Notting Hill", as did I. (Not surprising, Richard Curtis knows his job. Remember "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and a deaf guy named David?) She's also a woman, which is rare. Most other portrayals are men. (There's Maya in "Degrassi High", but she was even more pointless than Billy.) Xavier in "X-Men" got her approval, although she wasn't half as fond of that film as I turned out to be. I've currently been showing her "Dark Angel"'s Logan, and she's shown at least semi-interest. (Because any girl would.) But in general -- *sigh*. She's pretty much right. The ones who do show up are people you wouldn't think of twice.

Katarina "Katta" Hjärpe

From: Colin Duggan
Date: Tuesday, 03 April 2001
Subject: Wheelchairs in movies

From: Ed Jupp
Date: Thursday, 21 Sept. 2000
Subject: Disabled Actor in New York City

I am a Disabled Actor in New York City. I have been Disabled all of my life. I have been fortunate to work in several feature films and television programs.
Please go to my site http://edjupp.homestead.com/edjupp.html

I am working on a project with Ms. Lisa Scarola, Screen Actors Guild New York President. Please go to http://www.ucpnyc.org/whats/whats1.htm I am certain that you will find it interesting. I feel that it is time that we start providing information to creative people so they may learn about us. The ADA is 10 years old. There are numerous products and organizations that are designed for us so we are able to WORK. It is time that we introduce them!

I am very tired of having to hear how successful and positive we all are by playing a game in some kind of Disabled Olympics. We are PEOPLE that are disabled. There is not only one kind of disabled person. We can be ANYONE and those are the roles we should portray.

If you would like to know more about myself please let me know.

Sincerely,
Ed Jupp

From: Linda
Date: June 2000
Subject: James Stacy

James Stacy starred in the "Lancer" TV series. He lost an arm and a leg in a motorcycle accident. His companion was killed in that accident. He later starred in a movie with Lee Majors, playing a paraplegic downhill skier. The movie was titled something like "Just A Matter of a Little Inconvenience". I always liked James Stacy (from the Lancer TV Western). I always wondered if he knew how to ski for the movie before he was injured. -Linda

From: Dakkardog@aol.com
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 
Subject: movie gimps

Off the top of my head I can think of four that have not yet been mentioned. William Forsythe, who played bloss (the racist-biker) in The Waterdance (1992), also played a bad-guy gimp in Out For Justice (1991). I have a vague recollection of seeing him play a gimp in something else also but.... The 1985 production of Stephen King's Silver Bullet had Corey Haim as a young paraplegic werewolf hunter. John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood (1991) had a supporting character who was in a wheelchair. The television series Wiseguy featured Jim Byrnes, a double amputee, as the lifeguard. Byrnes, who lost his legs in a car accident in 1972, has too many credits for me to list here. He is currently working on the fourth movie in the Highlander series. -Jeff Weber

From: Nicolas Steenhout
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 
Subject: Movies and chairs: Extreme Measures

I must second what Kimberley Barreda says about the story line of Extreme Measures. It sucks... I find commendable that most of the background actors were real wheelers. I believe Hackman's performance is no better nor worse than his average, yet he does help hold the movie with a semblance of togetherness. Grant is Grant is Grant, he played one role and seemingly keeps playing the same role (don't get me wrong, I enjoy him once in a while).

What disturbs me about this movie is that it seems to promote this idea that disability is a fate worse than death, that crips and their family will go to all end, from kidnapping to pure murder passing by experiment on the homeless, to reach a cure for SCI's. It also disturbs me that wheelers would play into this. Then again, there are mitigating factors, like I'm sure they needed the money, and perhaps it's all balanced by the idea of actually hiring wheelers... Or is it even more subversive, getting a form of approval by our community for their idea of  "fate worse than yadda yadda yadda".

"You must dance like no one's watching and love like it's never going to hurt"

Nicolas Steenhout: Cooking on Wheels

From: Sophie Meyer
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999
Subject: films featuring wheelchair users

An old TV show Ironside comes to mind. Raymond Burr portrayed a former police detective who was confined to a wheelchair.He was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a gunshot wound. He made the character seem completely capable and thus provided a positive image of someone with a handicap. As far as I remember the show ran for about 8 years in the late Sixties to mid-Seventies and was very successful at the time. Hope this is of some help. --Regards, Sophie

From: guzdziol@lucent.com
Date: 09 Apr 1999
Subject: Movies with wheelchair

Gary, I looked through your movie list and I have an addition. Has anyone seen  Brady 500? It's a made-for-TV movie that's aired in a two-hour time slot, but may have originally been 2 episodes of The Bradys, the grown-up edition of The Brady Bunch. Bobby Brady (Mike Lookinland) has taken up stock-car racing, and faces a grueling recovery when his legs are paralysed after an accident during a race. I saw this film on TNT in November(?) 1998 for the first time, and it was repeated on January 1, 1999 at 7pm or 8pm (CDT). I think Mike Lookinland did a GREAT job of portraying himself as disabled. Examples include: 1) using hands to pull himself around during rehab; 2) trying to reject his ex-girlfriend (who shows up after hearing the news) because he's not the same Bobby she once knew; 3) Transferring himself from wheelchair to couch (later in film). Well done, Mike!

I started becoming disabled (spastic paraparesis, lower bilateral extremities) when I was around 4 years old, and continued to lose abilities gradually until I was around 16 (see more about me if you want). I am 40 years old now. I grew up watching The Brady Bunch, and to see those familiar faces going through something like this really touched me. Hollywood loves to portray family life as typically wonderful, all the loose ends are solved by the end of the hour. For me, this was a memorable departure from that.

From: Jim Edwards
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 1997
Subject: chair users in film/tv - Closer and Closer and Equal Justice

Just found your site today. How about 'Closer and Closer' on USA Network last year? Starring Kim Delaney as a para. Was well done, she drank cranberry juice, used a standup chair in her kitchen, etc... They still didn't show enough 'out of chair' activity, transfers, driving a car and so on. Bedroom scene was preceded by usual portrayal of doubt in her character--will he still find me attractive? They were careful not to show any real physical activity or modified activity.

About 5 yrs ago, a then unknown actress (non-disabled) named Colleen Flynn was seen in three episodes of the series Equal Justice. Just about the best portrayal of a chair user I've ever seen. Character was not newly disabled so there was none of the 'adjusting to it' crap that most writers feel is obligatory. It would have been perfect if they had written the boyfriend as someone who was adjusted or at ease with her disability. This may have come later but the series was cancelled. I wrote to Colleen and she wrote back that they tried to find a real chair user but no one had enough acting experience.

Last winter I read that Sharon Stone had started work on a film called 'The Normal Heart'. She was to play a tough physician who used a wheelchair. I have heard nothing about it since then. Heard anything? -Jim Edwards

Good Luck: -- Gregory Hines, Vincent D'Onofrio
Good Luck is a small picture with a huge heart. Lovingly directed by Richard LaBrie, this comic drama follows two disabled men--one's blind (D'Onofrio) and the other (Hines) is in a wheelchair--as they journey from Seattle to Oregon to take part in a raft race. Luck is about doing the best you can, even when best--don't read any further if you don't want to know the ending--means coming in dead last, which is exactly what our heroes do in the race. And their finish is just as moving and exhilarating as if they had come in first. (R)

Manhunt: (1994) -- Co-written by Rob Kerchner.
Don "the Dragon" Wilson stars as Jim Trudell, a man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Killing a cop in self-defense, he soon finds himself pursued by theLAPD, the FBI, a slew of bad guys with scars on their faces, and amysterious woman. Using his wits (and martial arts skills) to stayone step ahead of the game, he races to find the pieces to thepuzzle. The New York Daily News gave this film two stars (or onestar, I forget.) Hi-lite: Cyril O'Reilly, who plays the wheelchair-bound ex-special forces buddy, Tubbs; also, a gratuitous nude scene!

Wild Bill: Western. Starring Jeff Bridges, Ellen Barkin, Bruce Dern and Diane Lane. Directed by Walter Hill. John Hurt has a thankless role as an English friend of Bill's who does little but announce this friendship to every other character. Bruce appears as a sleazy lowlife in a wheelchair who insists on a gunfight with Bill. (R)

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead: Garcia and Anwar.
As the movie opens, Andy Garcia plays Jimmy the Saint, who is running a service for dying people to videotape advice to their loved ones. ("Treat them like dirt, and they come running," one dad tells his son about women.) The service is losing money, and the notes are held by the Man With the Plan (Christopher Walken), a right-wing homophobe who runs the Denver crime scene from his breath-powered wheelchair. A good performance is given by Fairuza Balk as a beaten-up prostitute. When Garcia romances Gabrielle Anwar, his come-on line is that she "glides," and "girls who glide need men who make them thump."

The Bone Collector - from Albert Sanchez Moreno
"The Bone Collector", based on Jeffrey Deaver's novel, stars Denzel Washington as a quadriplegic detective on the trail of a serial killer. Aside from being the best thriller I have seen since 1995's "Copycat", this movie features one of the best screen portrayals of a quad that I have ever seen. Of course, it helps that Denzel Washington is an excellent actor, but he could have easily been stuck in just another stereotyped "heroic crip" portrayal. Instead, there is absolutely no sign of patronization, condescension, or any self-pity beyond an understandable-under-the circumstances attempted try at a suicide pact (Washington is afraid one of his seizures will turn him into a vegetable).
He does all his work by voice-activated computer, from a large hospital bed where he spends 95% of the film, and his seizures are very convincing. His main assistant is the gorgeous Angelina Jolie, who does nearly all the work at the actual crime scene. At one point, you fear there will be an obligatory damsel-in-distress scene, but there isn't, and the final confrontation between Washington and the criminal does not make him seem like a helpless "disabled-person-in-distress". By the time that scene comes, the audience has already seen what a capable investigator he is.

Notting Hill - from Albert Sanchez Moreno
The current hit movie, "Notting Hill"(1999), starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, features a woman in a wheelchair played by Gina McKee (Almost the entire cast is British except for Roberts). I don't know if McKee is really in a wheelchair, but if she isn't, she sure had me fooled. The acting and writing in this film is quite good. Although there are a few lines in which McKee is portrayed as somewhat of a victim (she can't have children), and Julia Roberts DOES ask Hugh Grant (in private), "Why is she in a wheelchair?" McKee's acting is quite poignant and restrained, and her loving (and unpatronizingly treated) relationship with her husband quite obviously gives Hugh Grant a few ideas about marriage.
There is also a truly priceless, very knowing comic moment near the end, when McKee uses the issue of inaccessibility to Hugh Grant's advantage in his pursuit of Julia Roberts. Although I cringed and feared the worst when others in the film began talking about McKee's disability, on the whole it was VERY tastefully done.

NEW July 2000... Jane Scargill gives update on Gina McKee:
With regard to Gina McKee who played the role of Bella, a paraplegic in the film Notting Hill, she is not a real para. She has appeared in a number of British TV programmes and movies, her most famous role was a BBC series called 'Our Fiends In The North' which was fantastic. She's a very good actress, which is probably why she was so convincing in the role. -Jane

Mac And Me - from: Cheri Marshall
This is an older movie...along the lines of ET...a definite family film about an extraterestrial, a boy (who happens to be in a wheelchair), his mom and brother. I think the boy has SB. It was a great movie. Good storyline with enough 'hollywood' to make it entertaining with realistic sensitivity to the realities of being in a wheelchair. It has some suttle scenes like when they first move into a new house, the mom is with the boy and makes mention of the low windows so he can see out. He transfers into a car of a friend and has to tell the mother what to do with the wheelchair. He's independent & the hero of the story. I could see my paraplegic son getting into the same mischief. It's a cool movie.---cj marshall Silver Spring, Maryland

TREE
TREE is the story of a paraplegic who has return to his parents'  home after a serious accident. Unable to use his legs, he is confined to a wheelchair. While in the rehab center recuperating from his injuries, he was attracted to poetry, and in particular poems about trees and nature. At home, with his parents who "cannot do enough for him" and over-react, he is encouraged by a poem which was read to him by a nurse in the center, "...my wound has been my healing,  And I am made more beautiful by losses..."

TREE Return to Life, 20 minutes, color, produced and directed by Harvey Edwards. Cost for Paralinks readers: $19.95; regular retail is $24.95.  Based on a composite of accounts from paraplegics. Orders can be submitted to our email address which is: edfilms@worldnet.att.net We don't accept credit cards but we will send out the cassette and bill the buyer at the same time. We still trust people! 

The Switch - from Ed Noho
The Switch starring Gary Coleman, was about a Quad who fought the system in order to have the right to pull his own cord. Due to his condition, a mechanism was put in place - on his wheelchair, enabling him to turn off his own respirator. When it came time to jump, he chickened, and realized he really wanted to live. Only to later find that an undiagnosed disease had first dibs on him. At which point, quality of life for the remainder of his days became the focus of his energy.
My Kinesiologist was hired as technical consultant, and in turn, I was used as fodder for Gary to learn the nuances of his character. He did an O.K. job. But for any of us lifers, his play can be seen.

Leave Yesterday Behind - from MKing10559@aol.com
There is a made-for-TV movie, titled Leave Yesterday Behind that stars John Ritter and Carrie Fisher, that I saw about ten years ago.  John R. is a college student, who becomes injured while playing polo.  He becomes paraplegic, and goes through the denial, bitterness, and self-pity.  During these phases, he escapes overprotective parents by going to live with his grandfather / doctor, (played by actor Buddy Ebsen).  His life on a horse ranch takes hold as he meets a woman, (Fisher), who sees past his 'problems' of apprehension and self-doubt.  The two fall in love and he is convinced by the end of the movie that he can have a rewarding life, after all.
Ritter does a pretty good job acting paraplegic, but the movie in general was a little 'watered down', in my opinion.  There was a slight reference to the issue of sex; overall it was a collection of physical barriers to overcome, and competition with Fisher's well-developed able bodied boyfriend. 

An affair to remember - from Moobird722@aol.com
An Affair to Remember, stars Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr (even before my injury, this was my favorite movie).  It's a romance, a very cute classic movie about Nicky Ferante, an engaged casanova known the world-over (played by Grant), meets Terry, a nightclub singer from Boston who is also engaged (played by Kerr).  On the cruise, they fall in love (although Kerr resists) and make a date to meet six months later at the top of the Empire State Building.  If one didn't feel the same way about the other as they did previously, they wouldn't show up.  As Nicky waits by the elevator in the observatory, Terry gets out of a taxi and is hit by a car as she crosses the street.
She ends up in a wheelchair - they don't tell us why - although I will assume she is a paraplegic.  After about five months (I know this because it's Christmastime, and they  were supposed to meet on July 4th), Grant finds out where Kerr lives because she bought one of his paintings.  He goes to her apartment, and says that the guy who sold the portrait Grant painted of Kerr told him that the woman who was in the picture - was in a wheelchair - and she bought the painting.  She wouldn't tell him until he said so, and naturally, the last words in the movie were, "If you can paint, I can walk."  I give this movie FIVE stars.  It's a classic, it's romantic, and it has Cary Grant (always a plus!).  However, when it comes to the acting disabled thing - well, the subject is sort of ignored.  Kerr changes her lifestyle, dumps her fiancee, and gets a new job as a singing teacher - but other than giving up the nightclub job, the disability is pretty much ignored except in the last few moments.

Gattaca: (1997) Ethan Hawke Uma Thurman Gore Vidal
Vincent (Ethan) is one of the last un-cloned  babies born into a sterile, genetically-enhanced world, where life expectancy and disease likelihood are determined at birth. Myopic and due to die at 30, he has no chance of a career in a society that now discriminates against your genes, instead of your gender, race or religion. Going underground, he assumes the identity of Jerome, a paraplegic, in order to achieve his lifelong dream. He succeeds, and we watch  him go through some bizzare circumstances................A heavy existentialistic and realistic portrayal of a paraplegic.

Waterdance: About a group of paralyzed dudes at a rehab hospital in Los Angeles. Gets into the man/woman relationship issues. Real, rugged, and raw; good emotional portrayal of life in a chair. I seem to recall that one of the actors is a paraplegic in real life. Do you know who he is?

The People vs. Larry Flint: (1997) I thought was a great film. Woody did a great job of looking authentic. Again, these are movies, usually the paralyzed person is played by a walking person; there are not many stars in wheelchairs to chose from. Maybe Larry Flint could have played himself?

Passion Fish: (1992) Mary McDonnell, Alfre Woodward, Angela Bassett. I saw this movie, another good depiction. A soap actress is paralyzed in an accident. She returns to her childhood home in Louisiana, where she proceeds to drink quite heavily and drives away five personal attendants in the first twenty minutes of the movie. Then she hires Woodward, herself a recovering cocaine addict, who needs the job bad. Their mutual dislike gradually develops into an armed truce as the two women deal with their own problems and with each others'.

Frida, naturaleza viva: (1984) I did see this movie, it is a chronicle of the most prominent female painter of Latin America, Frida Kahlo. She brings memories of her childhood, of the streetcar accident that caused her constant pain and confinement to a wheelchair, her friendship with Trotsky and painter Alfaro Siqueiros, her marriage to Diego Rivera, her political commitment, her love affairs, and some of the most colorful and controversial aspects of Mexican history. This is a great art film!

From: Dusty
Date: 13 July 2000 - NEW!
Subject: Coming Home

I am a 57 yr old para. I had motor cycle acc. in 1966, and spent 8 months at Rancho Los Amigos. ( a great rehab center)! I have seen coming home a couple times, it brought back a lot of memories. The first time i watched it. I knew it was filmed at Rancho. This movie has hit home in many ways. Thank you Jon & jane Especially The Gimps !!!!!

From: Heather hproud@aloha.net
Date: Oct 18th 1999
Subject: Freak City ...

Has anyone viewed this movie?

From: KVCug@aol.com

Are there any wheelchair-using actresses working anywhere?  I've seen one or two clips of models, but never seen any in film.  I saw the comment on Lone Wolf in the movie reviews - she can't be the only one! Kate.

From: Miles Stratholt mstrath@direct.ca
Subject: Langer Gang

Saw a foreign film on late night cable here in Canada,"Langer Gang" by Yilmaz Arslan.  (pretty sure it was German).  It was about an institution that catered to young people with disabilities (mostly c.p., paralysis).  It was a very dark and disturbing film that I found most unsettling.  I was particularly bothered by the theme of hopelessness and despair among young adults with disabilities. Has anyone seen this film? What did you think?

From: Jim Edwards
Subject: The Lone Wolf

Its a low budget 'B' movie made in Colorado about 10 yrs ago. It is set in a high school and a student becomes a werewolf with the expected consequences. The actors are all unknowns. One of the students, a pretty blond, is played by a real chair user (para). She has dialog, is seen wheeling in 3 or 4 scenes and does as respectable a job as the other actors. She has billing near the top of the credits and I believe her real first name is Theresa??? The film seems to come around on TNT several times a year. Where is she now??

From: "Ma-Chine" ma-chine@future-link.com
Subject: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

We just viewed the Rocky Horror Picture Show, what a great classic cult film....the gentleman in the wheelchair was typical of older users: he had an old Everest & Jennings chrome job. I wonder why they had someone in a chair for this film? The film was made over 20 years ago, and  I don't think that there was any push to get wheelchair users on the big screen way back then. Any thoughts on this anyone?

From: Pam Wheeler
Date: Sat, 28 Mar 1998
Subject: Other Side Of The Mountain  and Jill Kinmont Boothe

Hi Gary. Did you ever see the movie 'Other Side of the Mountain' ? It's about Jill Kinmont Boothe. How she overcomes the challenges in her life despite her  handicap. Do you ever hear anything from her or about her? Looking forward to your reply. Sincerely Pam Wheeler