The Simpsons to introduce first deaf voice character and use sign language in historic move

The Simpsons will introduce the character Monk played by deaf voice actor John Autry II
1/31
Tina Campbell8 April 2022

The Simpsons is set to break new ground by introducing a deaf voice character and will feature American Sign Language.

The cult cartoon series, which has been running for 33 years, will introduce the character Monk played by deaf voice actor John Autry II.

He will make his first appearance during episode The Sound Of Bleeding Gums which is due to air in the US on Sunday.

The episode will see show regular Lisa Simpson track down the deaf son of her favourite saxophonist Bleeding Gums Murphy to help him get a cochlear implant.

The episode will see Lisa Simpson track down the deaf son of her favourite saxophonist, Bleeding Gums Murphy
The Simpsons

Viewers will also get to see sequences of ASL throughout the show.

Speaking about his casting and the importance of representation on the popular series, Autry told Variety: “It’s so incredible. It’s life-changing equality and participation.

“This can impact change for all of us. It’s about hard of hearing and hearing characters coming together. It’s a part of history.”

The episode was penned by Loni Steele Sosthand who joined the Simpsons back in 2020.

She told the publication how she had been inspired by her own deaf brother and the jazz music that was so prevalent in her own home growing up.

“When I think about music, I also think about my brother, who was born deaf,” she explained. “When we were talking about this Bleeding Gums character in our initial brainstorms, we thought, wouldn’t it be cool if Lisa discovers this whole other side of his life.

“That led to him having a son, and then we based that character at least somewhat on my brother. And the story grew from there.”

The episode comes hot on the heels of deaf actor Troy Kotsur’s historic Oscars wni
Getty Images

The episode comes hot on the heels of deaf actor Troy Kotsur’s historic Oscars win.

This year’s ceremony saw him awarded best supporting actor for his role in Coda which also won best picture.

Loni hailed Coda as “great” for representation and said there are “so many stories to be told” about the experiences of deaf people.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in