Phyllis Annetta Frelich (February 29, 1944 – April 10, 2014) was a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

-winning

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

American actress. She was the first deaf actor or actress to win a Tony Award.

Early life

Frelich was born to deaf parents Esther (née Dockter) and Philip Frelich, and was the eldest of nine siblings (all deaf). She attended

North Dakota School for the Deaf The North Dakota School for the Deaf (NDSD) is a state-funded residential school located in Devils Lake, North Dakota that provides services to meet the educational needs of children who are deaf and hard of hearing. NDSD is under the direction, c ...

, graduating in 1962, and then went on to study at

Gallaudet College Gallaudet University ( ) is a private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the Hearing loss, deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a gramma ...

, the only liberal arts university in the world for deaf students. Her parents were also alumni of the North Dakota School for the Deaf. At Gallaudet she completed a degree in library science, but also participated in theater. It was there that she was seen performing by David Hays, one of the founders of the National Theater of the Deaf, who asked her to join the theater company.

Career

In 1973, she moved to New York City along with

Mel Winkler Mel Winkler (October 23, 1941 – June 11, 2020) was an American actor, perhaps best known as the voice of Aku Aku in the ''Crash Bandicoot'' video games, from '' Crash Bandicoot: Warped'' to ''Crash Twinsanity''. Early life Winkler was born ...

, Frank Alesia,

Jeannie Russell Jeannie Russell (born Jeanne K. Russell; October 22, 1950) is an American actress best known for playing Dennis's playmate, Margaret Wade, in the television series '' Dennis the Menace'', which was based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the ...

. Frelich originated the leading female role in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production of '' Children of a Lesser God'', written by

Mark Medoff Mark Medoff (March 18, 1940 – April 23, 2019) was an American playwright, screenwriter, film and theatre director, actor, and professor. His play '' Children of a Lesser God'' received both the Tony Award and the Olivier Award. He was nominat ...

. That play was specially written for her, and based to some extent on her relationship with her husband Robert Steinberg. ''Children'' won the Tony for Best Play; Frelich won the 1980 Best Actress

and her co-star,

John Rubinstein John Rubinstein (born December 8, 1946) is an American actor, composer and director. Early life Rubinstein is the son of Polish parents. His mother, Aniela (née Młynarska), a dancer and writer, was a Roman Catholic native of Warsaw, the dau ...

, won the Best Actor

. Frelich was the first deaf actor or actress to win a Tony Award.

Marlee Matlin Marlee Beth Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, author, and activist. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a ...

played Frelich's role in the film version, for which she won the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

. Frelich later starred in other plays written by Medoff, including ''The Hands of Its Enemy'' and ''Prymate''. She was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for her performance in the 1985 television movie ''

Love Is Never Silent ''Love Is Never Silent'' is a 1985 Hallmark Hall of Fame television film aired on NBC December 9, 1985 and stars Mare Winningham and Cloris Leachman. It is based on the novel ''In This Sign'' by Joanne Greenberg. The film won two Emmy awards fo ...

''. On the original air date of February 9, 1985, she appeared as a guest in the ''

Gimme A Break! ''Gimme a Break!'' is an American television sitcom created by Morton Lachman, Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen, that aired on NBC for six seasons from October 29, 1981, to May 12, 1987. The series starred Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed ...

'' episode "The Earthquake". Frelich appeared in the recurring role of Sister Sarah on '' Santa Barbara''. Her last acting role was in an episode of ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'' in 2011. Frelich was elected to the ninety-member Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Board in Hollywood, the highest policy-making body in the entertainment industry in 1991. She was the first deaf actress to be recognized in the United States. In 1991, Frelich starred with Patrick Graybill in ''

The Gin Game ''The Gin Game'' is a two-person, two-act play by Donald L. Coburn that premiered at American Theater Arts in Hollywood in September 1976, directed by Kip Niven. It was Coburn's first play, and the theater's first production. The play won the 197 ...

'' at the

Deaf West Theatre Deaf West Theatre is a non-profit arts organization based in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is most well known for its Tony Award-nominated productions of '' Big River'' and '' Spring Awakening''. Deaf West Theatre is led by Artistic Director, ...

in Los Angeles drawing critical acclaim on their aesthetic art of American Sign Language. This performance was adapted from D. L. Coburn's play and was directed by

Linda Bove Linda Bove Waterstreet (born November 30, 1945) is an American actress who performed as (a fictionalized version of) herself in the PBS children's series ''Sesame Street'' from 1971 to 2002. Bove was the first deaf actress to be part of the prog ...

, with Deaf West Theatre artistic director

Ed Waterstreet Ed Waterstreet (born May 5, 1943 in Algoma, Wisconsin) is a Deaf American actor and the founder and artistic director of Deaf West Theatre, which was established in 1991, and was the first resident theatre company in America operating under the dir ...

Death

Frelich died on April 10, 2014, at her home in

Temple City, California Temple City, officially the City of Temple City, is a city in Los Angeles County, California located northeast of downtown Los Angeles and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. Temple City is part of a cluster of cities, along with Pasadena ...

at the age of 70 in April 2014 from

progressive supranuclear palsy Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset degenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty ...

(PSP), a rare degenerative neurological disease for which there are no treatments.Notice of death of Phyllis Frelich
, silentgrapevine.com; accessed April 13, 2014. News of her death broke on the Deaf West Theater

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page. The post honored Frelich for "paving so many roads for (the Deaf Community). A leading light of our community has been lost, and we mourn deeply. Our thoughts are with her family."

Filmography

Film

Television

References

* *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frelich, Phyllis 1944 births 2014 deaths People from Devils Lake, North Dakota 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from North Dakota American deaf actresses American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Tony Award winners People from Temple City, California American deaf people