Healthy Hearing has just posted a good interview with hard-of-hearing actor and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno. Ferrigno first came to fame in Pumping Iron, the 1970s-era documentary on professional bodybuilders, which today is remembered mainly as the vehicle that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger on his long march to Terminator-hood in Hollywood and then to the Governor’s mansion in California. He is better remembered now for his role in The Incredible Hulk 1980s TV series. Less well known but perhaps more important in the long run is that Ferrigno has been hard of hearing since infections stole most of his hearing when he was a small child and is now using his celebrity as an inspiring example for people who have to overcome all kinds of challenges.
In Pumping Iron I always found Feriggno as intriguing as Arnold because he was an equally talented but less flamboyant athlete on his way to a second Mr. Universe title at the time. The George Butler documentary turned Schwarzenegger into a caricature of a relentless self-promoter who brilliantly parlayed his modern-day Horatio Alger story into movie stardom and an even more improbable political career as the “Governator.” It’s ironic, then, that the real human being in “Pumping Iron,” regular-guy Lou Ferrigno, achieved his initial popular fame playing a caricture: the comic-book action hero Hulk. The spectacular image of the diminutive Bill Bixby’s shirt ripping as he morphs into the giant, 6′ 5″, 285-pound green Lou Ferrigno as the righteous Hulk bounding off to wreak mayhem on whatever miscreant crosses their path remains seared in the memories of millions of 1980s televison viewers.
Ferrigno’s disability didn’t stop him and in fact spurred him on to achieve his goals, first in bodybuilding and then in an acting career spanning film, television and the live stage. He is also a motivational speaker who provides an articulate and refreshingly humble example for people looking for inspiration in dealing with their own challenges. “If you try to hide your hearing loss you are actually going to do more harm to yourself,” Ferrigno says in the interview. “It is better to come out in the open and be honest about it, especially with yourself.” And even though he’s nearly a foot taller than I am and several times wider, Ferrigno still puts his hearing aids on one at a time: just like me, he’s constantly trying out better solutions, including new super-powerful Starkey DaVinci PxP behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids (I just got the most powerful BTE’s sold by Widex), and he’s enjoying the new Starkey ELI (Ear-Level Instrument) wireless Bluetooth attachment that enables him to pipe his cellphone conversations directly into his hearing aid. He’s come a long way from his childhood, when his parents only had enough money to give him one hearing aid. He never let his hearing loss get in the way of his goals, and after he became a star he never forgot where he comes from. Which is all pretty incredible in its own right.