Geri Jewell

Originally from Buffalo, New York, she is most notable for her role of Geri Tyler on the television program The Facts of Life from 1980 to 1984. This role made her the first person with a visible disability to have a recurring role on a prime-time series, as well as the first actor with cerebral palsy to be featured on a TV series.[2][3] After she dropped out of college, Jewell began her career doing stand up comedy at The Comedy Store in 1978. In 1980, she performed at the 2nd Annual Media Access Awards, when she was introduced to Norman Lear by producer, Fern Field.

Jewell appeared as the recurring character Jewel on the HBO original series Deadwood from 2004—2006 and in its 2019 film continuation.

Keynote speaker Geri Jewell takes questions from the audience.

Her autobiography I'm Walking as Straight as I Can was published in 2011 by ECW Press. The title refers to the facts that she has cerebral palsy and is a lesbian.[1][4]

Jewell's first autobiography, Geri, published in 1984, talked about her personal and professional life.

It did help children get comfortable dealing with a person who has a disability, and taught them the value of a good sense of humor, so I’m not going to knock the whole book. But it was such lighthearted fluff given that I was struggling so much at the time. Like I said, I had a manager who was a crook. People in my life were manipulating me and taking advantage of me. Then The Facts of Life did not renew my contract. Years later, they offered me one episode during the fifth season, and my new manager, Richard Lippin, who was trying to fix all the previous manager’s mistakes, turned it down. He felt that after everything that I’d done for Facts, it was a slap in the face that they would only offer me one show. If I had had it my way, I would have accepted it anyway. But I don’t blame him, because he was right. The problem was that he thought I was indispensable, and they didn’t. He figured that they would come back with something better. And—oops!—they never did. He told me not to worry about it, that I was going to find other work because I was very talented, and I was the first person with a disability to break ground in a series.[5]

She has been the recipient of many awards, including the 1992 Founders Award, the 2005 Independent Living Legacy Award, and a National Rehabilitation Hospital Victory Award (in 2006).[6][7]

• Jewell, Geri; Stewart Weiner (1984). Geri. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-02452-1.
• Jewell, Geri (2011). I'm Walking as Straight as I Can. Toronto: ECW Press. ISBN 1-55022-883-8.

• Official Website
• Geri Jewell at IMDb
• Geri Jewell at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television